Polyolefin Dispersions, Froths, and Foams

ABSTRACT

Polyolefin dispersions, froths, and foams and articles manufactured therefrom are disclosed. Also disclosed is a method for generating a thermoplastic foam from an aqueous dispersion. The aqueous dispersion may include a thermoplastic resin, water, and a stabilizing agent. The method may include adding at least one frothing surfactant to the aqueous dispersion to form a mixture, adding a flame retardant and/or a phase change material, frothing the mixture to create a froth, and removing at least a portion of the water to produce the foam.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

Embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to the production ofpolyolefin foams. Specifically, embodiments disclosed herein relate topolyolefin dispersions, froths, and foams containing flame retardantsand/or phase change materials.

2. Background Art

The physical and mechanical properties of polymeric foams make themsuitable for a wide variety of applications such as fire barriers,absorbent articles, sound deadening, thermal insulation, sportsprotective equipment, and packaging materials. There are six basic typesof foams and foam materials: open cellular, closed cellular, flexible,rigid, reticular, and syntactic. Open cellular foams have interconnectedpores or cells and are suitable for filtration applications. Closedcellular foams do not have interconnected pores or cells, but are usefulfor buoyancy or flotation applications. Flexible foams can bend, flex orabsorb impacts without cracking or delathinating. Reticular foams have avery open structure with a matrix consisting of an interconnectingnetwork of thin material strands. Rigid foams feature a matrix with verylittle or no flexibility. Syntactic foams consist of rigid microspheresor glass micro-balloons held together by a plastic or resin matrix. Aburgeoning area within foam technology is the development of flameretardant foams to meet the demands imposed by stricter governmentalstandards for flame retardant articles.

The most common method of decreasing the flammability of polymeric foamsis to incorporate a flame retarding agent, such as a halogenatedcompound or a phosphate ester into the foam formulation. While suchcompounds provide some improvement in the flame retardation propertiesof the foams, the incorporation of these materials may impair other foamproperties. For example, in the upholstered furniture industry, wherethere has been an increase in the stringency of governmental flameretardancy standards, conventional flame retardant systems often degradethe soft feel of the fabric due to an increase in stiffness associatedwith incorporation of the flame retardant system.

Because combustion requires air, closed cell foams have been frequentlyused in flame retardant applications due to the limited amount ofaccessible combustible air entrapped in the closed cell foam material.Typically, closed cell foams are formed using gas blowing agents otherthan air, such as fluorohydrocarbons, to create the foam structure.However, because of the closed cell structure, the limited volumeavailable in closed cell foams restricts the amount of flame retardantadditives that may be incorporated while maintaining the integrity ofthe foam structure. Furthermore, when applying a flame retardant foam tofabrics, where a soft feel may be important to a consumer, closed cellfoams are generally considered less desirable as they tend to be stiff.

Additionally, the closed cell structure may limit the type of flameretardant additives that may be incorporated, and may also limit themethods by which flame retardants may be incorporated into the foam. Forexample, closed cell gas blown foams may be made flame retardant via theincorporation of flame retardant additives such as brominated,chlorinated, or phosphorous based materials. The amount of these flameretardant materials that may be incorporated is limited in some cases bythe compatibility of the material with the polymer being foamed. Gasblown foams require good film forming properties in order for a foam tobe formed. Use of flame retardant additives that are particulate innature or incompatible with the foaming material may interfere with thefilm forming properties, making it difficult to forty) a good qualityfoam.

Another disadvantage of using a closed cell foam in a flame resistantapplication is that closed cell foams often do not shrink away from theflame source. Because of the trapped gas in the closed cells,closed-cell foams may expand toward the flame providing a good fuelsource for the fire.

Open celled foams may be formed by secondary processing of closed cellfoams. This may provide for the use of additional methods forincorporation of flame retardants into the foam structure, withlimitations known to those in the art.

In contrast to the stiffer closed cell foams discussed above, open cellfoams possess the quality of elasticity and soft feel that consumersdesire in fabric materials. Open cell structures are generally formedusing water (steam) as the blowing agent with air comprising themajority of the void space of the final foam structure. While the opencell structure entraps significant amounts of combustible air, thelarger voids provide greater surface area and volume to incorporategreater quantities of flame retardant fillers and other additives.Importantly, the open cell structure may accommodate larger amounts ofthese additives without compromising the foam structure.

There exist several methods for incorporating flame retardants intofoams. For example, flame retardants have typically been incorporatedinto traditional blown foams by a dry blending process, such as thatdescribed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 20040138351. In the '351publication, polyethylene was dry blended with a variety of possiblemelamine and organohalogen or organophosphorus flame retardantcompositions, and the pelletized blend was then blown into a foam.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,132,171 an open cell foam containing flame retardantsis disclosed. The open cell foam is formed by subjecting a closed cellflame incorporating flame retardants to mechanical compression torupture the cell membranes and result in an open cell structure. Asecond flame retardant may be also impregnated in the open cellstructure by immersion of the foam in a solution containing the secondretardant and wringing out the excess solution. This two stepintroduction of different retardant agents led to a synergisticimprovement in flame retardation.

Another strategy for introducing flame retardants is disclosed in U.S.Patent Publication No. 20010006865 wherein a flame retardant gel-coatingis placed over foamed polymeric material. The process can be used witheither closed or open cell foams, however, the advantage of gel coatingan open cell foam is that the entire foam structure becomes impregnatedwith the gel-coating through an immersion and wringing process.

A final challenge in the formation of foams is inconsistent andundesired foam collapse during the drying process, thus making theproperties of the foam difficult to control. Further complicating thisproblem may be the presence of surfactants and flame retardant additiveswhich can impact the final foam structure.

Accordingly, there exists a continuing need for the development of foamtechnologies to enhance flame retardant properties while preserving thebasic loam function.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

In one aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to an aqueousdispersion. The aqueous dispersion may include a thermoplastic resin, atleast one stabilizing agent, at least one flame retardant, and water.

In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to an aqueousfroth. The aqueous froth may include a thermoplastic resin, water, afrothing surfactant, a gas, and at least one flame retardant.

In other aspects, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a foam derivedfrom an aqueous dispersion, where the aqueous dispersion may include athermoplastic resin, at least one stabilizing agent, at least one flameretardant, and water.

In other aspects, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a foam derivedfrom an aqueous froth, where the froth may include a thermoplasticresin, water, a frothing surfactant, a gas, and at least one flameretardant.

In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method forgenerating a flame retardant thermoplastic foam from an aqueousdispersion. The aqueous dispersion may include a thermoplastic resin,water, and a stabilizing agent. The method may include adding at leastone frothing surfactant to the aqueous dispersion to form a mixture,adding a flame retardant, frothing the mixture to create a froth, andremoving at least a portion of the water to produce the foam.

In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to an aqueousdispersion. The aqueous dispersion may include a thermoplastic resin, atleast one stabilizing agent, at least one phase change material, andwater.

In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a flameretardant foam. The foam may include a thermoplastic resin and at leastone flame retardant, wherein the at least one flame retardant may befrom about 5 to about 70 percent of a total weight of the thermoplasticresin and the at least one flame retardant.

In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to an aqueousfroth. The aqueous froth may include a thermoplastic resin, water, afrothing surfactant, a gas, and at least one phase change material.

In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a method forgenerating a thermoplastic roam from an aqueous dispersion. The aqueousdispersion may include a thermoplastic resin, water, and a stabilizingagent. The method may include adding at least one frothing surfactant tothe aqueous dispersion to form a mixture, adding a phase changematerial, frothing the mixture to create a froth, and removing at leasta portion of the water to produce the foam, wherein the foam createdcomprises 20 weight percent or less residual water.

In another aspect, embodiments disclosed herein relate to a foam. Thefoam may include a thermoplastic resin and at least one phase changematerial, wherein the at least one phase change material may be fromabout 5 to about 70 percent of a total weight of the thermoplastic resinand the at least one phase change material.

Other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent fromthe following description and attached claims.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an extruder that may be used in formulating dispersions inaccordance with embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 presents the temperature versus time behavior of embodiments ofthe foam/upholstery structures disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments disclosed herein relate to flame retardant foams and methodsof forming such foams. In particular, certain embodiments relate tofoams fanned with thermoplastic resins and flame retardant additives.Other embodiments disclosed herein relate to foams formed withthermoplastic resins and phase change materials. In particular,embodiments relate to foams formed from an aqueous dispersion ofpolyolefins that are combined with flame retardant additives, phasechange materials, or combinations thereof. In the following description,numerous details are set forth to provide an understanding of thepresent invention. However, it will be understood by those skilled inthe art that the present invention may be practiced without thesedetails and that numerous variations or modifications from the describedembodiments may be possible.

One embodiment disclosed herein includes a method for generating flameretardant thermoplastic foams. The flame retardant structures of thepresent disclosure may be formed by mixing flame retardant additiveswith an aqueous dispersion, wherein the aqueous dispersion may include athermoplastic resin, water, and a dispersion stabilizing agent. Themixture of the flame retardant additives and the aqueous dispersion maybe frothed to create a froth, which may be laid on a fabric or othersubstrate and subsequently dried to remove at least a portion of thewater, forming a foam.

As used herein, the term “frothing” or “frothed” refers to a process ofincorporating substantial volumes of air, or other gas, in a liquidwhere, in some embodiments, at least 10 volume percent of the frothedmaterial consists of the gaseous component. In other embodiments, atleast 30 volume percent of the frothed material consists of the gaseouscomponent; at least 50 volume percent of the frothed material consistsof the gaseous component; at least 70 volume percent of the frothedmaterial consists of the gaseous component; at least 80 volume percentof the frothed material consists of the gaseous component; at least 85volume percent of the frothed material consists of the gaseouscomponent; and at least 90 volume percent in yet other embodiments. Theliquid may be a molecular solution, a micellar solution, or a dispersionin an aqueous or organic medium. In general the frothed liquid iscreated by mechanical methods such as high shear mixing underatmospheric conditions or optionally injecting gas into the system whilemixing. The term “froth” as used herein refers to an liquid which hasbeen frothed, as described above, before drying or removing the liquidmedium.

The term “foam” as used herein refers to a resilient structure formed byremoving a substantial portion of the liquid medium from a froth. As theliquid medium is removed from the froth, the polymer forms a film,giving stability to the resulting structure. Film formation may dependupon variables including the inciting point of polymers within thefroth, the rate of removal (i.e., evaporation rate) of the liquidmedium, and overall froth composition, among others. For example, aswater is removed from a froth formed from an aqueous dispersion,polymers contained in the dispersion may coalesce, fanning a film,giving structure and resiliency to the resulting foam. In someembodiments, a foam may be formed where the amount of residual liquidranges from 0 to 20 weight percent; 0 to 10 weight percent in otherembodiments; and 0 to 8 percent in yet other embodiments.

Embodiments of the foams disclosed herein may be open-cell foams. Asused herein, “open-cell” means cells that are connected to each other,forming an interconnected network. Furthermore, an “open cell ratio”means a ratio of the volume of open cells to the total volume of cellsin a foam.

Aqueous Dispersion

More generally, embodiments disclosed herein relate to aqueousdispersions and compounds made from aqueous dispersions that are mail informing froths and foams that include flame retardants, phase changematerial, and combinations thereof. Dispersions used in embodimentsdisclosed herein include water, (A) at least one thermoplastic resin,and (B) a dispersion stabilizing agent. These are discussed in moredetail below.

Thermoplastic Resin

The thermoplastic resin (A) included in embodiments of the aqueousdispersion of the present disclosure is a resin that is not readilydispersible in water by itself. The term “resin,” as used herein, shouldbe construed to include synthetic polymers or chemically modifiednatural resins.

Resins used in embodiments disclosed herein may include elastomers andblends of olefin polymers. In some embodiments, the thermoplastic resinis a semicrystalline resin. The term “semi-crystalline” is intended toidentify those resins that possess at least one endotherm when subjectedto standard differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) evaluation. Somesemi-crystalline polymers exhibit a DSC endotherm that exhibits arelatively gentle slope as the scanning temperature is increased pastthe final endotherm maximum. This reflects a polymer of broad meltingrange rather than a polymer having what is generally considered to be asharp melting point. Some polymers useful in the dispersions have asingle melting point while other polymers have more than one meltingpoint.

In sortie polymers one or more of the melting points may be sharp suchthat all or a portion of the polymer melts over a fairly narrowtemperature range, such as a few degrees centigrade. In otherembodiments, the polymer may exhibit broad melting characteristics overa range of about 20° C. In yet other embodiments, the polymer mayexhibit broad melting characteristics over a range of greater than 50°C.

Examples of the thermoplastic resin (A) which may be used in embodimentsdisclosed herein include homopolymers and copolymers (includingelastomers) of an alpha-olefin such as ethylene, propylene, 1-butene,3-methyl-1-butene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, 3-methyl-1-pentene, 1-heptene,1-hexene, 1-octene, 1-decene, and 1-dodecene, as typically representedby polyethylene, polypropylene, poly-1-butene, poly-3-methyl-1-butene,poly-3-methyl-1-pentene, poly-4-methyl-1-pentene, ethylene-propylenecopolymer, ethylene-1-butene copolymer, and propylene-1-butenecopolymer; copolymers (including elastomers) of an alpha-olefin with aconjugated or non-conjugated diene, as typically represented byethylene-butadiene copolymer and ethylene-ethylidene norbornenecopolymer; and polyolefins (including elastomers) such as copolymers oftwo or more alpha-olefins with a conjugated or non-conjugated diene, astypically represented by ethylene-propylene-butadiene copolymer,ethylene-propylene-dicyclopentadiene copolymer,ethylene-propylene-1,5-hexadiene copolymer, andethylene-propylene-ethylidene norbornene copolymer; ethylene-vinylcompound copolymers such as ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer,ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer, ethylene-vinyl chloride copolymer,ethylene acrylic acid or ethylene-(meth)acrylic acid copolymers, andethylene-(meth)acrylate copolymer; styrenic copolymers (includingelastomers) such as polystyrene, ABS, acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer,α-methylstyrene-styrene copolymer, styrene vinyl alcohol, styreneacrylates such as styrene methylacrylate, styrene butyl acrylate,styrene butyl methacrylate, and styrene butadienes and crosslinkedstyrene polymers; and styrene block copolymers (including elastomers)such as styrene-butadiene copolymer and hydrate thereof, andstyrene-isoprene-styrene triblock copolymer; polyvinyl compounds such aspolyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, vinyl chloride-vinylidenechloride copolymer, polymethyl acrylate, and polymethyl methacrylate;polyamides such as nylon 6, nylon 6,6, and nylon 12; thermoplasticpolyesters such as polyethylene terephthalate and polybutyleneterephthalate; polycarbonate, polyphenylene oxide, and the like; andglassy hydrocarbon-based resins, including poly-dicyclopentadienepolymers and related polymers (copolymers, terpolymers); saturatedmono-olefins such as vinyl acetate, vinyl propionate and vinyl butyrateand the like; vinyl esters such as esters of monocarhoxylic acids,including methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, n-butylacrylate, isobutylacrylate, dodecyl acrylate, n-octyl acrylate, phenyl acrylate, methylmethacrylate, ethyl methacrylate, and butyl methacrylate and the like;acrylonitrile, methacrylonitrile, acrylamide, mixtures thereof; resinsproduced by ring opening metathesis and cross metathesis polymerizationand the like. These resins may be used either alone or in combinationsof two or more. Examples of specific thermoplastic resins includestyrene butadiene copolymers with a styrene content of from about 70 toabout 95 weight percent.

As one suitable type of resin, the esterification products of a di- orpoly-carboxylic acid and a dial comprising a diphenol may be used. Theseresins are illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,000, which is incorporatedherein by reference. Other specific example of resins includestyrene/methacrylate copolymers, and styrene/butadiene copolymers;suspension polymerized styrene butadiencs; polyester resins obtainedfrom the reaction of bisphenol A and propylene oxide followed by thereaction of the resulting product with fumaric acid; and branchedpolyester resins resulting from the reaction of dimethylterephthalate,1,3-butanediol, 1,2-propanediol, and pentaerythritol, styrene acrylates,and mixtures thereof.

Further, specific embodiments employ ethylene-based polymers,propylene-based polymers, propylene-ethylene copolymers, and styreniccopolymers as one component of a composition. Other embodiments usepolyester resins, including those containing aliphatic diols such asUNOXOL 3,4 diol available from The Dow Chemical Company (Midland,Mich.).

In selected embodiments, one component is formed from ethylene-alphaolefin copolymers or propylene-alpha olefin copolymers. In particular,in select embodiments, the thermoplastic resin comprises one or morenon-polar polyolefins.

In specific embodiments, polyolefins such as polypropylene,polyethylene, copolymers thereof, and blends thereof, as well asethylene-propylene-diene terpolymers, may be used. In some embodiments,preferred olefinic polymers include homogeneous polymers, as describedin U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,992 issued to Elston; high density polyethylene(HDPE), as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,698 issued to Anderson;heterogeneously branched linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE);heterogeneously branched ultra low linear density polyethylene (ULDPE);homogeneously branched, linear ethylene/alpha-olefin copolymers;homogeneously branched, substantially linear ethylene/alpha-olefinpolymers, which can be prepared, for example, by processes disclosed inU.S. Pat. Nos. 5,272,236 and 5,278,272, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference; and high pressure, free radicalpolymerized ethylene polymers and copolymers such as low densitypolyethylene (LDPE) or ethylene vinyl acetate polymers (EVA).

Polymer compositions, and blends thereof, described in U.S. Pat. Nos.6,566,446, 6,538,070, 6,448,341, 6,316,549, 6,111,023, 5,869,575,5,844,045, or 5,677,383, each of which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety, may also be suitable in some embodiments. Insome embodiments, the blends may include two different Ziegler-Nattapolymers. In other embodiments, the blends may include blends of aZiegler-Natta and a metallocene polymer. In still other embodiments, thepolymer used herein may be a blend of two different metallocenepolymers. In other embodiments, single site catalyst polymers may beused.

In some embodiments, the polymer is a propylene-based copolymer orinterpolymer. In some particular embodiments, the propylene/ethylenecopolymer or interpolymer is characterized as having substantiallyisotactic propylene sequences. The term “substantially isotacticpropylene sequences” and similar terms mean that the sequences have anisotactic triad (mm) measured by ¹³C NMR of greater than about 0.85 inone embodiment; greater than about 0.90 in another embodiment; greaterthan about 0.92 in another embodiment; and greater than about 0.93 inyet another embodiment. Isotactic triads are well-known in the art andare described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,172 and WO 00/01745,which refer to the isotactic sequence in terms of a triad unit in thecopolymer molecular chain determined by ¹³C NMR spectra.

In other particular embodiments, the base polymer may be ethylene vinylacetate (EVA) based polymers. In other embodiments, the base polymer maybe ethylene-methyl acrylate (EMA) based polymers. In other particularembodiments, the ethylene-alpha olefin copolymer may be ethylene-butene,ethylene-hexene, or ethylene-octene copolymers or interpolymers. Inother particular embodiments, the propylene-alpha olefin copolymer maybe a propylene-ethylene or a propylene-ethylene-butene copolymer orinterpolymer.

In one particular embodiment, the thermoplastic resin may comprise analpha-olefin interpolymer of ethylene with a comonomer comprising analkene, such as 1-octene. The ethylene and octene copolymer may bepresent alone or in combination with another thermoplastic resin, suchas ethylene-acrylic acid copolymer. When present together, the weightratio between the ethylene and octene copolymer and the ethylene-acrylicacid copolymer may range from about 1:10 to about 10:1, such as fromabout 3:2 to about 2:3. The polymeric resin, such as the ethylene-octenecopolymer, may have a crystallinity of less than about 50%, such as lessthan about 25%. In some embodiments, the crystallinity of the polymermay range from 5 to 35 percent. In other embodiments, the crystallinitymay range from 7 to 20 percent.

Embodiments disclosed herein may also include a polymeric component thatmay include at least one multi-block olefin interpolymer. Suitablemulti-block olefin interpolymers may include those described in U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/818,911, for example. The tem,“multi-block copolymer” or refers to a polymer comprising two or morechemically distinct regions or segments (referred to as “blocks”)preferably joined in a linear manner, that is, a polymer comprisingchemically differentiated units which are joined end-to-end with respectto polymerized ethylenic functionality, rather than in pendent orgrafted fashion. In certain embodiments, the blocks differ in the amountor type of comonomer incorporated therein, the density, the amount ofcrystallinity, the crystallite size attributable to a polymer of suchcomposition, the type or degree of tacticity (isotactic orsyndiotactic), regio-regularity or regio-irregularity, the amount ofbranching, including long chain branching or hyper-branching, thehomogeneity, or any other chemical or physical property. The multi-blockcopolymers are characterized by unique distributions of polydispersityindex (PDT or M_(w)/M_(n)), block length distribution, and/or blocknumber distribution clue to the unique process making of the copolymers.More specifically, when produced in a continuous process, embodiments ofthe polymers may possess a PDI ranging from about 1.7 to about 8; fromabout 1.7 to about 3.5 in other embodiments; from about 1.7 to about 2.5in other embodiments; and from about 1.8 to about 2.5 or from about 1.8to about 2.1 in yet other embodiments. When produced in a batch orsemi-batch process, embodiments of the polymers may possess a PDIranging from about 1.0 to about 2.9; from about 1.3 to about 2.5 inother embodiments; from about 1.4 to about 2.0 in other embodiments; andfrom about 1.4 to about 1.8 in yet other embodiments.

One example of the multi-block olefin interpolymer is anethylene/α-olefin block interpolymer. Another example of the multi-blockolefin interpolymer is a propylene/α-olefin interpolymer. The followingdescription focuses on the interpolymer as having ethylene as themajority monomer, but applies in a similar fashion to propylene-basedmulti-block interpolymers with regard to general polymercharacteristics.

The ethylene/α-olefin multi-block copolymers may comprise ethylene andone or more co-polymerizable α-olefin comonomers in polymerized form,characterized by multiple (i.e., two or more) blocks or segments of twoor more polymerized monomer units differing in chemical or physicalproperties (block interpolymer). In some embodiments, the copolymer is amulti-block interpolymer. In some embodiments, the multi-blockinterpolymer may be represented by the following formula:

(AB)_(n)

where n is at least 1, and in various embodiments n is an integergreater than 1, such as 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80,90, 100, or higher; “A” represents a hard block or segment; and “B”represents a soft block or segment. Preferably, A's and B's are linkedin a linear fashion, not in a branched or a star fashion. “Hard”segments refer to blocks of polymerized units in which ethylene ispresent in an amount greater than 95 weight percent in some embodiments,and in other embodiments greater than 98 weight percent. In other words,the comonomer content in the hard segments is less than 5 weight percentin some embodiments, and in other embodiments, less than 2 weightpercent of the total weight of the hard segments. In some embodiments,the hard segments comprise all or substantially all ethylene. “Soft”segments, on the other hand, refer to blocks of polymerized units inwhich the comonomer content is greater than 5 weight percent of thetotal weight of the soft segments in some embodiments, greater than 8weight percent, greater than 10 weight percent, or greater than 15weight percent in various other embodiments. In some embodiments, thecomonomer content in the soft segments may be greater than 20 weightpercent, greater than 25 weight percent, greater than 30 weight percent,greater than 35 weight percent, greater than 40 weight percent, greaterthan 45 weight percent, greater than 50 weight percent, or greater than60 weight percent in various other embodiments.

In some embodiments, A blocks and B blocks are randomly distributedalong the polymer chain. In other words, the block copolymers do nothave a structure like:

AAA-AA-BBB-BB

In other embodiments, the block copolymers do not have a third block. Instill other embodiments, neither block. A nor block B comprises two ormore segments (or sub-blocks), such as a tip segment.

The multi-block interpolymers may be characterized by an average blockindex, ABI, ranging from greater than zero to about 1.0 and a molecularweight distribution, M_(w)/M_(n), greater than about 1.3. The averageblock index, ABI, is the weight average of the block index (“BI”) foreach of the polymer fractions obtained in preparative TREF from 20° C.and 110° C., with an increment of 5° C.:

ABI=Σ(w _(i)BI_(i))

where BI_(i) is the block index for the i^(th) fraction of themulti-block interpolymer Obtained in preparative TREF, and w_(i) is theweight percentage of the i^(th) fraction.

Similarly, the square root of the second moment about the mean,hereinafter referred to as the second moment weight average block index,may be defined as follows:

${2^{nd}\mspace{14mu} {moment}\mspace{14mu} {weight}\mspace{14mu} {average}\mspace{14mu} B\; I} = \sqrt{\frac{\sum\left( {w_{i}\left( {{B\; I_{i}} - {A\; B\; I}} \right)}^{2} \right)}{\frac{\left( {N - 1} \right){\sum w_{i}}}{N}}}$

For each polymer fraction, BI is defined by one of the two followingequations (both of which give the same BI value):

${B\; I} = {\frac{{1/T_{X}} - {1/T_{XO}}}{{1/T_{A}} - {1/T_{AB}}}\mspace{14mu} {or}}$${B\; I} = {- \frac{{LnP}_{X} - {LnP}_{XO}}{{LnP}_{A} - {LnP}_{AB}}}$

where T_(X) is the analytical temperature rising elution fractionation(ATREF) elution temperature for the i^(th) fraction (preferablyexpressed in Kelvin), P_(X) is the ethylene mole fraction for thefraction, which may be measured by NMR or IR as described below. P_(AB)is the ethylene mole fraction of the whole ethylene/α-olefininterpolymer (before fractionation), which also may be measured by NMRor IR. T_(A) and P_(A) are the ATREF elution temperature and theethylene mole fraction for pure “hard segments” (which refer to thecrystalline segments of the interpolymer). As an approximation or forpolymers where the “hard segment” composition is unknown, the T_(A) andP_(A) values are set to those for high density polyethylene homopolymer.

T_(AB) is the ATREF elution temperature for a random copolymer of thesame composition (having an ethylene mole fraction of P_(AB)) andmolecular weight as the multi-block interpolymer. T_(AB) may becalculated from the mole fraction of ethylene (measured by NMR) usingthe following equation:

Ln P _(AB) =α/T _(AB)+β

where α and β are two constants which may be determined by a calibrationusing a number of well characterized preparative TREF fractions of abroad composition random copolymer and/or well characterized randomethylene copolymers with narrow composition. It should be noted that αand β may vary from instrument to instrument. Moreover, one would needto create an appropriate calibration curve with the polymer compositionof interest, using appropriate molecular weight ranges and comonomertype for the preparative TREF fractions and/or random copolymers used tocreate the calibration. There is a slight molecular weight effect. IFthe calibration curve is obtained from similar molecular weight ranges,such effect would be essentially negligible. In some embodiments, randomethylene copolymers and/or preparative TREF fractions of randomcopolymers satisfy the following relationship:

Ln P=−237.83/T _(ATREF)+0.639

The above calibration equation relates the mole fraction of ethylene, P,to the analytical TREF elution temperature, T_(ATREF), for narrowcomposition random copolymers and/or preparative TREF fractions of broadcomposition random copolymers. T_(XO) is the ATREF temperature for arandom copolymer of the same composition and having an ethylene molefraction of P_(X). T_(XO) may be calculated from Ln P_(X)=α/T_(XO)+β.Conversely, P_(XO) is the ethylene mole fraction for a random copolymerof the same composition and having an ATREF temperature of T_(X), whichmay be calculated from Ln P_(XO)=α/T_(X)+β.

Once the block index (BI) for each preparative TREF fraction isobtained, the weight average block index, ABI, for the whole polymer maybe calculated. In some embodiments, ABI is greater than zero but lessthan about 0.4 or from about 0.1 to about 0.3. In other embodiments. ABIis greater than about 0.4 and up to about 1.0. In yet other embodiments,ABI should be in the range of from about 0.4 to about 0.7, from about0.5 to about 0.7, or from about 0.6 to about 0.9. In some embodiments,ABI is in the range of from about 0.3 to about 0.9, from about 0.3 toabout 0.8, or from about 0.3 to about 0.7, from about 0.3 to about 0.6,from about 0.3 to about 0.5, or from about 0.3 to about 0.4. In otherembodiments, ABI is in the range of from about 0.4 to about 1.0, fromabout 0.5 to about 1.0, or from about 0.6 to about 1.0, from about 0.7to about 1.0, from about 0.8 to about 1.0, or from about 0.9 to about1.0.

Another characteristic of the multi-block interpolymer is that theinterpolymer may comprise at least one polymer fraction which may beobtained by preparative TREF, wherein the fraction has a block indexgreater than about 0.1 and up to about 1.0 and the polymer having amolecular weight distribution, M_(w)/M_(n), greater than about 1.3. Insome embodiments, the polymer fraction has a block index greater thanabout 0.6 and up to about 1.0, greater than about 0.7 and up to about1.0, greater than about 0.8 and up to about 1.0, or greater than about0.9 and up to about 1.0. In other embodiments, the polymer fraction hasa block index greater than about 0.1 and up to about 1.0, greater thanabout 0.2 and up to about 1.0, greater than about 0.3 and up to about1.0, greater than about 0.4 and up to about 1.0, or greater than about0.4 and up to about 1.0. In still other embodiments, the polymerfraction has a block index greater than about 0.1 and up to about 0.5,greater than about 0.2 and up to about 0.5, greater than about 0.3 andup to about 0.5, or greater than about 0.4 and up to about 0.5. In yetother embodiments, the polymer fraction has a block index greater thanabout 0.2 and up to about 0.9, greater than about 0.3 and up to about0.8, greater than about 0.4 and up to about 0.7, or greater than about0.5 and up to about 0.6.

Ethylene α-olefin multi-block interpolymers used in embodimentsdisclosed herein may be interpolymers of ethylene with at least oneC₃-C₂₀ α-olefin. The interpolymers may further comprise C₄-C₁₈ diolefinand/or alkenylbenzene. Suitable unsaturated comonomers useful forpolymerizing with ethylene include, for example, ethylenicallyunsaturated monomers, conjugated or non-conjugated dimes, polyenes,alkenylbenzenes, etc. Examples of such comonomers include C₃-C₂₀α-olefins such as propylene, isobutylene, 1-butene, 1-hexene, 1-pentene,4-methyl-1-pentene, 1-heptene, 1-octene, 1-nonene, 1-decene, and thelike. In certain embodiments, the α-olefins may be 1-Butene or 1-octene.Other suitable monomers include styrene, halo- or alkyl-substitutedstyrenes, vinylbenzocyclobutane, 1,4-hexadiene, 1,7-octadiene, andnaphthenics (such as cyclopentene, cyclohexene, and cyclooctene, forexample).

The multi-block interpolymers disclosed herein may be differentiatedfrom conventional, random copolymers, physical blends of polymers, andblock copolymers prepared via sequential monomer addition, fluxionalcatalysts, and anionic or cationic living polymerization techniques. Inparticular, compared to a random copolymer of the same monomers andmonomer content at equivalent crystallinity or modulus, theinterpolymers have better (higher) heat resistance as measured bymelting point, higher TMA penetration temperature, higherhigh-temperature tensile strength, and/or higher high-temperaturetorsion storage modulus as determined by dynamic mechanical analysis.Properties of infill may benefit from the use of embodiments of themulti-block interpolymers, as compared to a random copolymer containingthe same monomers and monomer content, the multi-block interpolymershave lower compression set, particularly at elevated temperatures, lowerstress relaxation, higher creep resistance, higher tear strength, higherblocking resistance, faster setup due to higher crystallization(solidification) temperature, higher recovery (particularly at elevatedtemperatures), better abrasion resistance, higher retractive force, andbetter oil and filler acceptance.

Other olefin interpolymers include polymers comprising monovinylidenearomatic monomers including styrene, o-methyl styrene, p-methyl styrene,t-butylstyrene, and the like. In particular, interpolymers comprisingethylene and styrene may be used. In other embodiments, copolymerscomprising ethylene, styrene and a C₃-C₂₀ α olefin, optionallycomprising a C₄-C₂₀ diene, may be used.

Suitable non-conjugated diene monomers may include straight chain,branched chain or cyclic hydrocarbon diene having from 6 to 15 carbonatoms. Examples of suitable non-conjugated dienes include, but are notlimited to, straight chain acyclic dienes, such as 1,4-hexadiene,1,6-oetadiene, 1,7-oetadiene, 1,9-decadiene, branched chain acyclicdimes, such as 5-methyl-1,4-hexadiene; 3,7-dimethyl-1,6-oetadiene;3,7-dimethyl-1,7-octadiene and mixed isomers of dihydromyricene anddihydroocinene, single ring alicyclic dienes, such as1,3-cyclopentadiene; 1,4-cyclohexadiene; 1,5-cyclooctadiene and1,5-cyclododecadiene, and multi-ring alicyclic fused and bridged ringdienes, such as tetrahydroindene, methyl tetrahydroindene,dicyclopentadiene, bicyclo-(2,2,1)-hepta-2,5-diene; alkenyl, alkylidene,cycloalkenyl and cycloalkylidene norbornenes, such as5-methylene-2-norbornene (MNB); 5-propenyl-2-norbornene,5-isopropylidene-2-norbornene, 5-(4-cyclopentenyl)-2-norbornene,5-cyclohexylidene-2-norbornene, 5-vinyl-2-norbornene, and norbornadiene.Of the dienes typically used to prepare EPDMs, the particularlypreferred dienes are 1,4-hexadiene (HD), 5-ethylidene-2-norbornene(ENB), 5-vinylidene-2-norbornene (VNB), 5-methylene-2-norboniene (MNB),and dicyclopentadiene (DCPD).

One class of desirable polymers that may be used in accordance withembodiments disclosed herein includes elastomeric interpolymers ofethylene, a C₃-C₂₀ α-olefin, especially propylene, and optionally one ormore diene monomers. Preferred α-olefins for use in this embodiment aredesignated by the formula CH₂═CHR*, where R* is a linear or branchedalkyl group of from 1 to 12 carbon atoms. Examples of suitable α-olefinsinclude, but are not limited to, propylene, isobutylene, 1-butene;1-pentene, 1-hexene, 4-methyl-1-pentene, and 1-octene. A particularlypreferred α-olefin is propylene. The propylene based polymers aregenerally referred to in the art as EP or EPDM polymers. Suitable dienesfor use in preparing such polymers, especially multi-block EPDM typepolymers include conjugated or non-conjugated, straight or branchedchain-, cyclic- or polycyclic-dienes comprising from 4 to 20 carbons.Preferred dienes include 1,4-pentadiene, 1,4-hexadiene,5-ethylidene-2-norbornene, dicyclopentadiene, cyclohexadiene, and5-butylidene-2-norbornene. A particularly preferred diene is5-ethylidene-2-norbornene.

In select embodiments, the thermoplastic resin is formed fromethylene-alpha olefin copolymers or propylene-alpha olefin copolymers.In particular, in select embodiments, the thermoplastic resin includesone or more non-polar polyolefins.

The olefin polymers, copolymers, interpolymers, and multi-blockinterpolymers may be functionalized by incorporating at least onefunctional group in its polymer structure. Exemplary functional groupsmay include, for example, ethylenically unsaturated mono- and-di-functional carboxylic acids, ethylenically unsaturated mono- anddi-functional carboxylic acid anhydrides, salts thereof and estersthereof. Such functional groups may be grafted to an olefin polymer, orit may be copolymerized with ethylene and an optional additionalcomonomer to form an interpolymer of ethylene, the functional comonomerand optionally other comonomer(s). Means for grafting functional groupsonto polyethylene are described for example in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,762,890,4,927,888, and 4,950,541, the disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entirety. One particularly usefulfunctional group is maleic anhydride.

The amount of the functional group present in the functional polymer mayvary. The functional group may be present in an amount of at least about1.0 weight percent in some embodiments; at least about 5 weight percentin other embodiments; and at least about 7 weight percent in yet otherembodiments. The functional group may be present in an amount less thanabout 40 weight percent in some embodiments; less than about 30 weightpercent in other embodiments; and less than about 25 weight percent inyet other embodiments.

In certain embodiments, the thermoplastic resin may be anethylene-octene copolymer or interpolymer having a density between 0.863and 0.911 g/cc and melt index (190° C. with 2.16 kg weight) from 0.1 to100 g/10 min. In other embodiments, the ethylene-octene copolymers mayhave a density between 0.863 and 0.902 g/cc and melt index (190° C. with2.16 kg weight) from 0.8 to 35 g/10 min.

In certain embodiments, the thermoplastic resin may be apropylene-ethylene copolymer or interpolymer having an ethylene contentbetween 5 and 20% by weight and a melt flow rate (230° C. with 2.16 kgweight) from 0.5 to 300 g/10 min. In other embodiments, thepropylene-ethylene copolymer or interpolymer may have an ethylenecontent between 9 and 12% by weight and a melt flow rate (230° C. with2.16 kg weight) from 1 to 100 g/10 min.

In certain other embodiments, the thermoplastic resin may be a lowdensity polyethylene having a density between 0.911 and 0.925 g/cc andmelt index (190° C. with 2.16 kg weight) from 0.1 to 100 g/10 min.

In other embodiments, the thermoplastic resin may have a crystallinityof less than 50 percent. In preferred embodiments, the crystallinity ofthe base polymer may be from 5 to 35 percent. In more preferredembodiments, the crystallinity may range from 7 to 20 percent.

In certain other embodiments, the thermoplastic resin is asemi-crystalline polymer and may have a melting point of less than 110°C. In preferred embodiments, the melting point may be from 25 to 100° C.in more preferred embodiments, the melting point may be between 40 and85° C.

In other embodiments, the thermoplastic resin is a glassy polymer andmay have a glass transition temperature of less than 110° C. Inpreferred embodiments, the glass transition temperature may be from 20to 100° C. In more preferred embodiments, the glass transitiontemperature may be from 50 to 75° C.

In certain embodiments, the thermoplastic resin may have a weightaverage molecular weight greater than 10,000 g/mole. In otherembodiments, the weight average molecular weight may be from 20,000 to150,000 g/mole; in yet other embodiments, from 50,000 to 100,000 g/mole.

The one or more thermoplastic resins may be contained within the aqueousdispersion in an amount from about 1% by weight to about 96% by weight.For instance, the thermoplastic resin may be present in the aqueousdispersion in an amount from about 10% by weight to about 60% by weight,and about 20% to about 50% by weight in another embodiment.

Dispersion Stabilizing Agent

Embodiments disclosed herein use a stabilizing agent to promote theformation of a stable dispersion or emulsion. In select embodiments, thestabilizing agent may be a surfactant, a polymer (different from thethermoplastic resin or base polymer detailed above), or mixturesthereof. In other embodiments, the resin is a self-stabilizer, so thatan additional exogenous stabilizing agent may not be necessary. Forexample, a self-stabilizing system may include a partially hydrolyzedpolyester, where by combining polyester with an aqueous base, apolyester resin and surfactant-like stabilizer molecule may be produced.In particular, the stabilizing agent may be used as a dispersant, asurfactant for frothing the foam, or may serve both purposes. Inaddition, one or more stabilizing agents may be used in combination.

In certain embodiments, the stabilizing agent may be a polar polymer,having a polar group as either a comonomer or grafted monomer. Inpreferred embodiments, the stabilizing agent may include one or morepolar polyolefins, having a polar group as either a comonomer or graftedmonomer. Typical polymers include ethylene-acrylic acid (EAA) andethylene-methacrylic acid copolymers, such as those available under thetrademarks PRIMACOR™ (trademark of The Dow Chemical Company), NUCREL™(trademark of E.I. DuPont de Nemours), and ESCOR™ (trademark ofExxonMobil) and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,599,392, 4,988,781, and5,938,437, each of which is incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety. Other suitable polymers include ethylene ethyl acrylate (EEA)copolymer, ethylene methyl methacrylate (EMMA), and ethylene butylacrylate (EBA). Other ethylene-carboxylic acid copolymer may also beused. Those having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that anumber of other useful polymers may also be used.

If the polar group of the polymer is acidic or basic in nature, thestabilizing agent polymer may be partially or fully neutralized with aneutralizing agent to form the corresponding salt. In certainembodiments, neutralization of the stabilizing agent, such as a longchain fatty acid or EAA, may be from 25 to 200% on a molar basis; from50 to 110% on a molar basis in other embodiments. For example, for EAA,the neutralizing agent is a base, such as ammonium hydroxide orpotassium hydroxide, for example. Other neutralizing agents can includelithium hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, for example. Those havingordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the selection of anappropriate neutralizing agent depends on the specific compositionformulated, and that such a choice is within the knowledge of those ofordinary skill in the art.

Other stabilizing agents that may be used include long chain fatty acidsor fatty acid salts having from 12 to 60 carbon atoms. In otherembodiments, the long chain fatty acid or fatty acid salt may have from12 to 40 carbon atoms.

Additional stabilizing agents that may be useful include cationicsurfactants, anionic surfactants, or a non-ionic surfactants. Examplesof anionic surfactants include sulfonates, carboxylates, and phosphates.Examples of cationic surfactants include quaternary amines. Examples ofnon-ionic surfactants include block copolymers containing ethylene oxideand silicone surfactants. Surfactants useful as a stabilizing agent maybe either external surfactants or internal surfactants. Externalsurfactants are surfactants that do not become chemically reacted intothe polymer during dispersion preparation. Examples of externalsurfactants useful herein include salts of dodecyl benzene sulfonic acidand lauryl sulfonic acid salt. Internal surfactants are surfactants thatdo become chemically reacted into the polymer during dispersionpreparation. An example of an internal surfactant useful herein includes2,2-dimethylol propionic acid and its salts.

In particular embodiments, the dispersing agent or stabilizing agent maybe used in an amount ranging from greater than zero to about 60% byweight based on the amount of base polymer (or base polymer mixture)used. For example, long chain fatty acids or salts thereof may be usedfrom 0.5 to 10% by weight based on the amount of base polymer. In otherembodiments, ethylene-acrylic acid or ethylene-methacrylic acidcopolymers may be used in an amount from 0.5 to 60% by weight based onthe amount of the base polymer. In yet other embodiments, sulfonic acidsalts may be used in an amount from 0.5 to 10% by weight based on theamount of base polymer.

As discussed above, more than one stabilizing agent may be used, andcombinations may be used as a dispersant and as a surfactant, forexample.

Dispersants

In one embodiment, the aqueous dispersion may include dispersant in anamount of more than about 1% by weight of the aqueous dispersion; morethan about 2% in another embodiment; and more than about 3% in yetanother embodiment. In another embodiment, the aqueous dispersion mayinclude a dispersant agent in an amount less than about 10% by weight ofthe aqueous dispersion; less than about 8% in another embodiment; andless than 5% in yet another embodiment.

Suitable dispersants for the polyolefin resin particles may includesalts of fatty acid(s) of carbon chain length of greater than 12 andpreferably from 18 to 36 carbon atoms. The salts may be alkali metal orammonium salts of the fatty acid, prepared by neutralization of the acidwith the corresponding base, e.g., NaOH, KOH, and NH₄OH. These salts maybe formed in situ in the dispersion step, as described more fully below.The appropriate fatty acid dispersant may be selected to serve asdispersant for the extrusion melt step in order to attain the desiredaverage size of the particles, which in one embodiment is between, about0.2 and 25 microns and between about 0.5 and 10 microns in anotherembodiment. In another embodiment, the polyolefin particles may range insize from 0.5 to 1.5 microns:

One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the dispersant usedto create a relatively stable aqueous dispersion of polyolefin resinparticles may vary depending on the nature of the polyolefin particlesemployed. Additionally, the dispersant used may be the same or differentthan the frothing surfactant used in the subsequent preparation of thetroth.

Dispersion Formulations

Dispersion formulations in accordance with embodiments disclosed hereinmay include a liquid medium, such as water, a thermoplastic resin, adispersion stabilizing agent, and optionally a filler. With respect tothe autoplastic resin and the dispersion stabilizing agent, in someembodiments, the thermoplastic resin may comprise between about 30% to99% (by weight) of the total amount of base polymer and dispersionstabilizing agent in the composition. In other embodiments, thethermoplastic resin may comprise between about 50% and about 80% (byweight) of the total amount of base polymer and dispersion stabilizingagent in the composition. In yet other embodiments, the thermoplasticresins may comprise about 70% (by Weight) of the total amount of basepolymer and dispersion stabilizing agent in the composition.

In one embodiment, the aqueous dispersion disclosed herein may includepolyolefin resin particles ranging in size from about 0.2 to 10 microns;from about 0.5 to 5 microns in another embodiment; and from about 1 to 2microns. Thus, in comparison to the thermoplastic fibers mixed with theaqueous dispersion, the polyolefin resin particles are several orders ofmagnitude smaller than the fibers, discussed further below.

In a particular embodiment, the polyolefin resin may include copolymersand interpolymers of ethylene and/or propylene and other monomersselected from C₄ to C₁₀ olefins, preferably alpha-olefins, morepreferably from C₄ to C₈ alpha-olefins and most preferably selected fromn-butene, n-hexene and n-octene. The ethylene or propylene content ofthe resin may range from about 2 to 98 weight percent of the polyolefinparticles. Where a softer, more flexible foam may be desired, aprimarily ethylene-based polyolefin may be selected in which ethylenecomprises from about 98 to 50 weight percent of the polyolefin. Where astiffer foam of greater flexural modulus may be desired, a primarilypropylene-based or other polyolefin May be selected in which propylenecomprises from about 98 to 50 percent of the polyolefin. Selectedcomonomer(s) may comprise the remainder of the polyolefin.

In one embodiment, the polyolefin resin may include an ethylene-basedpolyolefin which has a melt index (“MI”) determined according to ASTMD1238 (190° C. with a 2.16 kg weight) from about 0.1 to 25 g/10 min;from 0.25 to 22 g/10 min in another embodiment; and from about 0.5 to 18g/10 min in yet another embodiment. In another embodiment, thepolyolefin resin may include a propylene-based polyolefin which has aMelt Flow Rate (“MFR”) determined according to ASTM D1238 (230° C. with2.16 kg weight) of from about 0.25 to 85 g/10 min; from about 0.7 to 70g/10 min in another embodiment; from about 1.4 to 60 in yet anotherembodiment; and from about 2 to 50 g/10 min in yet another embodiment.

In one embodiment, the polyolefin resin may comprise an ethylene-basedpolyolefin having a density ranging from about 0.845 to 0.925 g/cc; fromabout 0.85 to 0.91 in another embodiment; from about 0.855 to 0.905 inyet another embodiment; and from about 0.86 to 0.90 in yet anotherembodiment.

One class of polyolefins particularly suited for use herein arecopolymers of ethylene and 1-octene or 1-butene, where ethylenecomprises from about 50 to 90 percent by weight of the copolymer in oneembodiment, and from about 55 to 85 percent by weight of the copolymerin another embodiment and 1-octene or 1-butene comprises from about 10to 50 percent by weight of the copolymer in one embodiment and fromabout 15 to 45 percent by weight of the copolymer in another example,and where the ethylene copolymer has a Melt Index ranging from about0.25 to 30 g/10 min in one embodiment, and 0.5 to 20 g/10 min in anotherembodiment.

Another preferred class of polyolefins includes copolymers of 1-propeneand ethylene, 1-octene, -hexene or 1-butene, where 1-propene comprisesfrom about 65 to 95 percent by weight of the copolymer in one embodimentin one embodiment, and from about 75 to 93 percent by weight of thecopolymer in another embodiment and ethylene, 1-octene, 1-hexene or1-butene comprise from about 5 to 35 percent by weight of the copolymerin one embodiment, and from about 7 to 25 percent by weight of thecopolymer in another embodiment, and wherein the copolymer has a MeltFlow ranging from about 0.7 to 85 g/10 min in one embodiment and fromabout 1.4 to 55 g/10 min in another embodiment.

The thermoplastic resin and the dispersion stabilizing agent, arepreferably dispersed in a liquid medium, which in some embodiments iswater. In some embodiments, sufficient base is added to neutralize theresultant dispersion to achieve a pH range of about 6 to about 14. Inparticular embodiments, sufficient base is added to maintain a pHbetween about 9 to about 12. Water content of the dispersion may becontrolled so that the combined content of the thermoplastic resin andthe dispersion stabilizing agent (solids content) is between about 1% toabout 74% (by volume). In another embodiment, the solids content rangesbetween about 25% to about 74% (by volume). In yet another embodiment,the solid content ranges between about 30% to about 50% (without filler,by weight). In yet another embodiment, the solids content ranges isbetween about 40% to about 55% (without filler, by weight).

Dispersions formed in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein maybe characterized in having an average particle size of between about 0.3to about 3.0 microns. In other embodiments, dispersions may have anaverage particle size of from about 0.8 to about 1.2 microns. “Averageparticle size” as used herein means the volume-mean particle size. Inorder to measure the particle size, laser-diffraction techniques may beemployed for example. A particle size in this description refers to thediameter of the polymer in the dispersion. For polymer particles thatare not spherical, the diameter of the particle is the average of thelong and short axes or the particle. Particle sizes can be measured on aBeckman-Coulter LS230 laser-diffraction particle size analyzer or othersuitable device.

In a specific embodiment, a thermoplastic resin, a stabilizing agent,and a filler are melt-kneaded in an extruder along with water and aneutralizing agent, such as ammonia, potassium hydroxide, or acombination of the two to form a dispersion compound. Those havingordinary skill in the art will recognize that a number of otherneutralizing agents may be used. In some embodiments, the filler may beadded after blending the base polymer and stabilizing agent.

Any melt-kneading means known in the art may be used. In someembodiments, a kneader, a rotostator, a BANBURY® mixer, single-screwextruder, or a multi-screw extruder is used. A process for producing thedispersions in accordance with embodiments disclosed herein is notparticularly limited. One preferred process, for example, is a processcomprising melt-kneading the above-mentioned components according toU.S. Pat. No. 5,756,659 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 20010011118.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an extrusion apparatus that may be usedin forming dispersions used herein. An extruder 20, in certainembodiments a twin screw extruder, is coupled to a back pressureregulator, melt pump, or gear pump 30. Embodiments also provide a basereservoir 40 and an initial water reservoir 50, each of which includes apump (not shown). Desired amounts of base and initial water are providedfrom the base reservoir 40 and the initial water reservoir 50,respectively. Any suitable pump may be used, but in some embodiments apump that provides a flow of about 150 cc/min at a pressure of 240 baris used to provide the base and the initial water to the extruder 20. Inother embodiments, a liquid injection pump provides a flow of 300 cc/minat 200 bar or 600 cc/min at 133 bar. In some embodiments, the base andinitial water are preheated in a preheater.

Frothing Surfactants

Embodiments disclosed herein may use a surfactant to facilitate orpromote the formation of a stable froth and to aid in frothing. Creatingand stabilizing the froth during the frothing and drying steps may beaccomplished by addition of a frothing surfactant to the aqueousdispersion of the polyolefin resin when initially creating the froth. Inaddition, these surfactants may also be used to improve aqueous wettingof dried foams, if desired. Suitable frothing surfactants may beselected from cationic, nonionic and anionic surfactants. In oneembodiment, an anionic surfactant may be used.

In some embodiments, the frothing surfactant may be an alkylcelluloseethers, hydroxyalkyl cellulose ethers, hydroxyalkyl alkylcelluloseethers, guar gum, xanthan gum, and polyoxyethylene resins of at least20,000 molecular weight, or combinations thereof. Other suitablefrothing surfactants may be selected from cationic surfactants, anionicsurfactants, or a non-ionic surfactants. Examples of cationicsurfactants include quaternary amines, primary amine salts, diaminesalts, and ethoxylated amines. Examples of non-ionic surfactants includeblock copolymers containing ethylene oxide, silicone surfactants,alkylphenol ethoxylates, and linear and secondary alcohol ethoxylates ofalkyl group containing more than 8 carbon atoms.

Examples of anionic surfactants include sulfonates, carboxylates, andphosphates. In one embodiment, anionic surfactants useful in preparingthe froth from the aqueous dispersion may be selected from carboxylicacid salts and ester amides of carboxylic fatty acids, preferably fattyacids comprising from 12-36 carbon atoms, e.g., stearic or lauric acid,palrnitic, myristic, oleic, linoleic, ricinoleic, erucic acid and thelike.

In some embodiments, the surfactant may include amphoteric surfactantssuch as aminopropionates, amphoteric sulfonates, betaines, imidazolinebased amphoterics, and sultaines, among others. For example, thesurfactant may be derived from an imidazoline and can either be theacetate form (containing salt) or the propionate form (salt-free).Examples of suitable amphoteric surfactants include surfactants such aslauramidopropyl betaine, sodium laurimino dipropionate, cocoamidopropylhydroxyl sultaine, alkylether hydroxypropyl sultaine, sodiumcapryloampho hydroxypropyl sulfonate, disodium capryloamphodipropionate, sodium cocoamphoacetate, disodium cocoamphodiacctatc,sodium cocoamphopropionate, disodium octyl iminodipropionate, sodiumcocoampho hydroxypropyl sulfonate, disodium lauryl iminodipropionate,sodium stearoampho acetate, and disodium tallow iminodipropionate, amongothers. Other amphoteric surfactants known in the art may also be used.

Surfactants useful as a stabilizing agent may be either externalsurfactants or internal surfactants. External surfactants aresurfactants that do not become chemically reacted into the polymerduring dispersion preparation. Examples of external surfactants usefulherein include salts of dodecyl benzene sulfonic acid and laurylsulfonic acid salt. Internal surfactants are surfactants that do becomechemically reacted into the polymer during dispersion preparation. Anexample of an internal surfactant useful herein includes 2,2-dimethylolpropionic acid and its salts.

In one embodiment, when a good “hand” or fabric-like feel is desired inthe finished foam, a saturated fatty acid derivative (e.g., the salt ofstearic or palmitic acid) may be used. Other suitable anionicsurfactants include alkylbenzene sulfonates, secondary n-alkanesulfonates, alpha-olefin sulfonates, dialkyl diphenylene oxidesulfonates, sulfosuccinate esters, isothionates, linear alkyl (alcohol)sulfates and linear alcohol ether sulfates. It is understood that thefrothing surfactants may or may not be different than those used toprepare the dispersion. These surfactants serve both to assist in frothformation and help to stabilize the froth. In a particular embodiment,the surfactant may be selected from at least one of alkali metal, mono-,di- and tri-alkanol (mono-, di- or triethanol) amine, and ammonium saltsof lauryl sulfate, dodecylbenzene sulfates, alcohol ethoxy sulfates, andisothionates, the dibasic salt of N-octyldecylsulfosuccinimate, andmixtures thereof.

In some embodiments, the frothing surfactant may be used in an amountsuch that the resulting froth, as described below, may contain from 0.01to 10.0 weight percent frothing surfactant based on the dry weight ofthe thermoplastic polymer. In other embodiments, the froth may containfrom 0.02 to 3.0 weight percent frothing surfactant based on the dryweight of the thermoplastic polymer; from 0.03 to 2.5 weight percentbased on the dry weight of the thermoplastic polymer in otherembodiments; and from 0.05 to 10.0 weight percent based on the dryweight of the thermoplastic polymer in yet other embodiments. In variousother embodiments, the frothing surfactant may be present in the frothin an amount ranging from a lower bound of 0.01, 0.02, 0.03, 0.04, or0.05 weight percent based on the dry weight of the thermoplastic polymerto an upper bound of 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, or 10.0 weight percentbased on the dry weight of the thermoplastic polymer, in any combinationof given upper and lower bounds.

Flame Retardants

Embodiments of the dispersions, froths, and foams disclosed herein mayuse flame retardants or intumescents, or any combination thereof, in theformulation to reduce flammability of materials onto which thedispersions, froths, or foams are deposited. Flame retardants arematerials that slow the advancement of flame or fire. Flame retardantadditives may comprise any combination of inorganic salts, metal oxidesor hydroxides, halogenated compounds, phosphate compounds, boratecompounds, and melamine compounds. In one embodiment aluminum hydroxideor magnesium hydroxide or the corresponding metal oxides may be used asa bulk tiller flame retardant material. In a further embodiment,melamine compounds may be used in combination with other flameretardants to provide an intumescent effect. In yet another embodiment,halogenated compounds such as chlorinated paraffins, halogenatedphosphate esters, or halogen-containing polymers may be used. In stillanother embodiment phosphorus containing flame retardants may be usedsuch as phosphoric esters, halogen-containing phosphoric esters,phosphorus containing polyols, or polymers of vinyl phosphonates. In yetanother embodiment, nitrogen containing intumescents and other flameretardants as disclosed in U.S. Patent Publications 2003/0207969,2004/0097620, 2004/0116565, and 2004/0138351, each of which areincorporated by reference, may be used.

In some embodiments, the flame retardant may be used in an amount suchthat the resulting froth, as described below, may contain from 15 to 75weight percent flame retardant based on the total weight of thethermoplastic resin, the stabilizing agent, and the flame retardant. Inother embodiments, the froth may contain from 20 to 70 weight percentflame retardant based on the total weight of the thermoplastic resin,the stabilizing agent, and the flame retardant; from 25 to 65 weightpercent based on the total weight of the thermoplastic resin, thestabilizing agent, and the flame retardant in other embodiments; andfrom 30 to 50 weight percent based on the total weight of thethermoplastic resin, the stabilizing agent, and the flame retardant inyet other embodiments. In various other embodiments, the flame retardantmay be present in the troth in an amount ranging from a lower hound of10, 15, 20, 25, or 30 weight percent based on the total weight of thethermoplastic resin, the stabilizing agent, and the flame retardant toan upper bound of 50, 55, 60, 65, or 70 weight percent based on thetotal weight of the thermoplastic resin, the stabilizing agent, and theflame retardant, in any combination of given upper and lower hounds.

In some embodiments, the flame retardant may be used in an amount suchthat the resulting foam, as described below, may contain from 5 to 80weight percent flame retardant. In other embodiments, the foam maycontain from 5 to 70 weight percent flame retardant; from 20 to 70weight percent in other embodiments; from 25 to 65 weight percent inother embodiments; and from 30 to 50 weight percent in yet otherembodiments. In various other embodiments, the flame retardant may bepresent in the foam in an amount ranging from a lower bound of 5, 10,15, 20, 25, or weight percent to an upper bound of 50, 55, 60, 65, or 70weight percent, in any combination of given upper and lower bounds.

Phase Change Materials

Dispersions, froths, and foams disclosed herein may include phase changematerials. In some embodiments, phase change materials may includeencapsulated or microencapsulated waxes, salt hydrides, fatty acids andesters, and paraffins. Phase change materials may absorb or release heatdue to a phase change when the temperature of the phase change materialincreases above or decreases below a particular temperature,respectively. For example, if the temperature exceeds the melting pointof a wax, the encapsulated wax melts and absorbs the excess heat;conversely, if the temperature falls, the encapsulated wax becomes solidagain and releases heat. One example of a phase change material isMICRONAL®, available from BASF. In some embodiments, a phase changematerial may undergo a phase change at a temperature of approximately 0°C. The temperature at which the phase change material undergoes a phasechange may be referred to as the switching temperature. In various otherembodiments, a phase change material may have a switching temperaturebetween 0° C. and 100° C. In other embodiments, a phase change materialmay have a switching temperature of approximately 25° C. In variousother embodiments, a phase change material may have a switchingtemperature of about 0° C. or higher, about 10° C. or higher, about 20°C. or higher, about 25° C. or higher, or about 35° C. or higher.

The switching temperature of the phase change material used in variousembodiments may depend upon the environment for which the phase changematerial will be exposed. For example, articles for use in tropicalenvironments may have a phase change materials having a higher switchingtemperature than articles for use in moderate or arctic environments dueto the relative temperatures at which heating and cooling may bedesired.

In some embodiments, the phase change material may be used in an amountsuch that the resulting foam, as described below, may contain from 5 to80 weight percent phase change material. In other embodiments, the foammay contain from 5 to 70 weight percent phase change material; from 20to 70 weight percent in other embodiments; from 25 to 65 weight percentin other embodiments; and from 30 to 50 weight percent in yet otherembodiments. In various other embodiments, the phase change material maybe present in the foam in an amount ranging from a lower hound of 5, 10,15, 20, 25, or 30 weight percent to an upper bound of 50, 55, 60, 65, or70 weight percent, in any combination of given upper and lower bounds.

Additives

The foam may optionally contain tiller materials in amounts, dependingon the application for which they are designed, ranging from about 2-100percent (dry basis) of the weight of the thermoplastic resin anddispersion stabilizing agent. These optional ingredients may include,for example, calcium carbonate, titanium dioxide powder, polymerparticles, hollow glass spheres, polymeric fibers such as polyolefinbased staple monofilaments, further intumescents, further flameretardants, and the like. In foams designed for use in flame retardantapplications additives and flame retardants may beneficially be addeddirectly to the particle dispersion before frothing is initiated. Inother embodiments, the dispersions, froths, and foams disclosed hereinmay include fibrils or fiber-like materials, such as natural orsynthetic fibers, such as disclosed in U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 60/818,911.

When fibrils or fiber-like materials and dispersions are combined,frothed, and dried to form a foam, a fibrillated structure may result.The foam morphology may be characterized as having a high degree ofrandomness and larger surface openings as compared to traditionalpolyolefin froth foams. The internal structure of the foam may alsodisplay a non-cellular architecture with non-woven fibrils and largervoid spaces relative to conventional polyolefin froth foams. In oneembodiment, the absorbent structure (the foam) may have a non-cellular,fibrillated morphology. As used herein, a “non-cellular, fibrillatedstructure” refers to a foam having an open, random, non-cellular,morphology composed of or having fibrils or thread-like filaments. Thenon-cellular, fibrillated structure, for example, may be non-uniform andnon-repeating, such as where the fibrils form a non-woven fibrous-likeweb and where a majority of the struts are not interconnected.

Froth Preparation

A froth may be prepared from the dispersion/surfactant/flame retardantmixture by using a mechanical method such as a high shear, mechanicalmixing process under atmospheric conditions to entrain air or othergases in the aqueous phase of the dispersion or optionally injecting gasinto the system while mixing. In other embodiments, a froth may beprepared from the dispersion/surfactant/phase change material mixture.The amount of air or other gas (where a gas in addition to or other thanair is desirable) that may be incorporated in the froth may comprise atleast 30% by volume in one embodiment, at least 80% by volume in anotherembodiment, at least 85% by volume in another embodiment, and at least90% by volume of the resultant froth in yet another embodiment.Initially, all components to be used in making the froth may be mixedtogether with mild agitation to avoid entrapping air. In someembodiments, the flame retardant and/or phase change material may beadded to the dispersion mixture prior to frothing. In other embodiments,the flame retardant and/or phase change material may be added to themixture after frothing. In other embodiments, the flame retardant and/orphase change material may be added during frothing.

In some embodiments, components of the froth may include (a) athermoplastic resin; (b) water, (c) at least one frothing surfactant,(d) a gas, and (e) at least one flame retardant and/or at least onephase change material. The froth may be formed from these components,where the froth comprises from about 15 to 75 weight percent component(a), from about 25 to 75 weight percent component (b), from about 0.1 to10 weight percent component (e), from about 5 to 50 weight percentcomponent (c), and wherein (d) is present in an amount such that (d)comprises at least 30 percent of the total volume of all componentspresent in the froth.

Once all of the ingredients are well mixed, the mixture may be exposedto high shear mechanical mixing. During this step, the bulk viscosity ofthe mixture may increase as more air is entrapped within the continuousaqueous phase until a non-flowable, stiff froth is formed. The mixingtime necessary to obtain a froth with the desired density may vary withamount and type of frothing surfactant and the amount of mechanicalshear. Any mechanical mixing device capable of whipping air into athickened aqueous dispersion, such as a kitchen blender/hand mixer,Hobart mixer fitted with a wire whip, a rotostator, or on a largerscale, a Cowie-Riding Twin Foamer (Cowie Riding Ltd.) may be used. Thecommercial foamers may also allow one to inject air into their highshear mixing head to obtain very low (less than 50 g/L) density froth.

Froth density may be measured, for example, by drawing off samples ofthe froth in cups of predetermined volume and weight, weighing thefroth-filled cup and then calculating the density of the sample. Incommercial frothers, air can be added directly into the mixing head toassist in development of low density froth. The speed of the frothingdevice may be increased or decreased to attain a desired froth density.In one embodiment, the froth density may be in a range of about 0.04 to0.45 g/cc, from about 0.04 to 0.15 g/cc in another embodiment, fromabout 0.05 to 0.10 g/cc in another embodiment, and from 0.07 to 0.08g/cc in yet another embodiment. Once a desired density of the froth isobtained, the froth may be optionally spread on a substrate prior toconversion of the froth into a foam. In other embodiments, the frothdensity may be in a range from about 0.02 g/cc to about 0.7 g/cc. Thedensity of the froth, as detailed above, is on a wet basis.

Froths and foams comprising the polymers may also be formed as disclosedin PCT application No. PCT/US2004/027593, filed Aug. 25, 2004, andpublished as WO2005/021622, incorporated by reference herein. In otherembodiments, the polymers may also be crosslinked by any known means,such as the use of peroxide, electron beam, silane, azide, gammairradiation, ultraviolet radiation, or other cross-linking techniques.The polymers may also be chemically modified, such as by grafting (forexample by use of maleic anhydride (MAH), silanes, or other graftingagent), halogenation, amination, sulfonation, or other chemicalmodification.

Drying and Recovery Steps

In one embodiment, the foam may be prepared from the froth by removingat least a portion of the liquid/aqueous element of the froth preparedas disclosed herein. In other embodiments, the foam may be prepared fromthe froth by removing at least a majority, i.e. greater than 50 weightpercent, of the liquid/aqueous element of the froth. In yet otherembodiments, the foam may be prepared by removing substantially all ofthe liquid/aqueous element. In various embodiments, greater than 30weight percent, greater than 50 weight percent, greater than 80 weightpercent, greater than 90 weight percent, greater than 95 weight percent,greater than 98 weight percent, or greater than 99 weight percent of theliquid/aqueous element may be removed. The means by which the liquidportion is removed may be selected to minimize the amount of frothvolume collapse. In one embodiment, the froths may be dried andconverted to foams by heating in a forced air drying oven, attemperatures selected for optimum drying. In one embodiment, the frothmay be heated to a temperature between about 60° C. and 120° C. (betweenabout 140° F. and 250° F.).

As the nature of the thermoplastic resin permits, processing may beconducted at the highest temperature feasible to remove water as rapidlyas possible from the froth without destroying the viscosity of thepolyolefin resin particles on the surface of the bubbles of the froth orcausing significant (e.g., more than 30 volume percent) collapse of thepartially dried froth. In one embodiment, it may be desirable to dry thefroth at a temperature that approaches, but does not exceed the meltingrange of the thermoplastic resin. In another embodiment, it may bedesirable to attain a temperature where the amorphous regions in thethermoplastic resin begin to coalesce to avoid or at least minimizecollapse of the froth before the foam has become fully “dried” in itsultimate form and dimension and at least 95 weight percent of the waterin the froth has been driven out. The resulting “dried” foam may have adensity of about 0.02 to 0.07 g/cm³ in one embodiment, and from about0.03 to 0.05 g/cm³ in another embodiment. In other embodiments, the foammay have a density between 0.02 g/cm³ and 0/30 g/cm³. The foam density,as detailed above, is on a dry basis, exclusive of any water that may bepresent in the foam.

Some embodiments of the dried foam may have an average thickness rangingfrom 0.01 cm to 2.5 cm. Other embodiments of the dried foam may have anaverage thickness ranging from 0.05 cm to 2.0 cm; and from 1 to 1.5 cmin yet other embodiments. Articles comprising embodiments of the driedfoam may include at least one layer of foam having an average thicknessranging from 0.1 cm to 2.5 cm; from 0.5 cm to 2.0 cm in otherembodiments; and from 1.0 cm to 1.5 cm. In yet other embodiments. Insome embodiments, two or more foams may be laminated together; invarious embodiments, the two or more foams may have the same ordifferent densities, the same or different cell sizes, or the same ordifferent structures (open-celled, closed celled, etc.). In otherembodiments, one or more foams may be laminated to a substrate, such asfilm. In some embodiments, a substrate may be coated with a froth, wherethe coating may be performed with or without an adhesive.

Drying of the froth to form the desired foam may be conducted in batchor continuous mode. Devices including, for example, conventional forcedair drying ovens or banks of infrared heating lamps or dielectricheating devices, e.g., radio (typically operated at permitted frequencybands in the range between 1-100 MHz) and microwave (typically operatedat permitted frequency bands in the range between 400 to 2500 MHz)frequency energy generating sources, lining a tunnel or chamber in whichthe froth may be placed or conveyed through, in a continuous fashion,may be employed for drying. A combination of such drying energy sourcesmay be used, either simultaneously or sequentially applied, to dry frothto form foam. In one embodiment, the drying includes the simultaneoususe of a dielectric device and a forced air drying oven. For foam havinga thickness of about 0.25-0.6 cm, the drying may be achieved as quicklyas 45-90 seconds when the forced air oven is operated at approximately75° C. and a radio frequency generator heats the froth to an internaltemperature of about 45-50° C. The temperature of the drying operationmay be selected according to the nature and the melting range of thepolyolefin resin particles (as determined by DSC) employed to preparethe foam. The dielectric heating frequency bands, permitted forindustrial use in various countries, are designated in greater detail inthe reference “Foundations of Industrial Applications of Microware andRadio Frequency Fields”, Rousy, G and Pierce, J. A. (1995).

In some embodiments, the resulting foam may be an open-cell foam. Incertain embodiments, the cell size of the majority of cells of the foammay range between about 1 and 3000 microns; between about 5 and 1000microns in other embodiments; and between 10 and 500 microns in yetother embodiments. In some embodiments, the open-cell foam may have anopen-cell ratio of greater than 65%. In other embodiments, the open-cellfoam may have an open-cell ratio of greater than 75%; greater than 85%in other embodiments; and greater than 95% in yet other embodiments.

The flammability of the resulting foam may be lower than theflammability of a non-flame retardant control sample. In someembodiments, the foam may have a burn length of 80% or lower than anon-flame retardant control sample according to ASTM D4986 Standard TestMethod for Horizontal Burning Characteristics of Cellular PolymericMaterials. ASTM D4986 is a test method to determine the relative rate ofburning and the extent and time of burning of cellular polymericmaterials. In other embodiments, the foam may have a burn length of 70%or lower than a non-flame retardant control sample according to ASTMD4986; 60% or lower in other embodiments; and 50% or lower in yet otherembodiments. In other embodiments, the resulting foam may beself-extinguishing.

In some embodiments, the foams disclosed herein may specifically finduse in a fire barrier, absorbent articles, sound deadening materials,thermal insulating materials (such as a thermal insulation layer inclothing), packaging materials, an odor absorber, a perfume carrier,padding material or other applications where foams may be useful. Inother embodiments, a flame retardant article such as upholsteredfurniture, bedding, a mattress, automotive carpeting or seating,curtains, draperies, carpet, or other articles may be made from alaminated structure formed from the above described dispersions, froths,and/or foams.

In other embodiments, a substrate may be coated with at least one layerof the above described froth. In other embodiments, the above describedfoam may be used to form a flame retardant article. The flame retardantarticle can include a fabric and a flame retardant, open-cell foam, asdescribed above, disposed on the fabric, where the foam layer and thefabric layer may be fused without an adhesive or where the foam may beat least partially impregnated in the fabric.

In still other embodiments, a laminate may be formed where at least onelayer of the above described froth is disposed (i.e. laid, doctored, orspread) on at least one substrate. The at least one substrate may be afroth, a foam, a thermoplastic sheet or film, a woven or non-wovenfabric, fiberglass, or a melt spun-bonded or melt blown material.

In some embodiments, a laminate may be formed where at least one layerof the above described foam is adhered to at least one substrate. The atleast one substrate may be a froth, a foam, a thermoplastic sheet orfilm, a woven or non-woven fabric, fiberglass, or a melt spun-bonded ormelt blown material. The foam layer may have a density different thanthat of the substrate. In other embodiments, the laminated structure mayinclude a first and a second foam layer, where the density of the firstand second foam layers may be the same or different. In otherembodiments, the froths or foams disclosed herein may be disposedbetween two substrate layers, which may be the same or differentsubstrates.

EXAMPLES Example 1 Foam and Froth Preparation

A blend of 108.6 grams of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of49% water, 48.75% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38percent (ENGAGE® 8200 elastomer, available from The Dow ChemicalCompany), 1.02% UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid available from Baker-PetroliteCorp., Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n hasan average value of about 23), 0.51% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acidavailable from Chemtura Corporation), 0.51% STEPHANOL WAT-K (Tea LaurylSulfate, commercially available from Stepan Chemical Company,Northfield, Ill.), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulose derivativecommercially available from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.),and 0.026% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commercially available from The DowChemical Company, Midland, Mich.) is mixed with 24.9 grams of water, and35.1 grams of MARTINAL® OL-104G (aluminum hydroxide available fromAlbemarle Corporation) in a plastic container. The mixture is shaken andhomogenized using a household high shear hand held mixer (Hamilton BeachTURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture is placed in a conventional mixing bowlunder a Hobart-type stand mixer fitted with a wire beater. The blend ismixed on high speed for 3 minutes thereby entraining air and producing afroth.

The froth is spread onto the back of a 100% olefin upholstery fabrichaving a fabric weight of 292 g/m² and is smoothed to a height of 0.25inches (6.4 mm). The froth is placed in a Blue M forced air oven atdrying temperature of approximately 75° C. for 25 minutes. The resultingfinal foam height after drying is measured to be about 3.7 mm. Theresulting final foam/fabric structure has a foam weight of 613 g/m² anda foam density of about 0.165 g/cm³. The resulting final foam has acomposition of 38.8% MARTINAL® OL-104G and 61.2% dispersion solids.

When tested for horizontal burn performance using ASTM D4986 StandardTest Method for Horizontal Burning Characteristics of Cellular PolymericMaterials, the foam/fabric sample gives a burn length of 3.5 cm after 3minutes elapsed time.

Comparative Example 1

Approximately 100 grams of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of49% water, 48.75% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38percent (ENGAGE® 8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow ChemicalCompany), 1.02% UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-PetroliteCorp., Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n hasan average value of about 23), 0.51% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearie acidavailable from Chemtura Corporation), 0.51% STEPHANOL WAT-K (Tea LaurylSulfate, commercially available from Stepan Chemical Company,Northfield, Ill.), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulose derivativecommercially available from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.),and 0.026% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commercially available from The DowChemical Company, Midland, Mich.) is placed in a conventional mixingbowl under a Hobart-type stand mixer fitted with a wire beater. Theblend is mixed on high speed for 3 minutes thereby entraining air andproducing a froth.

The froth is spread onto the back of a 100% olefin upholstery fabrichaving a fabric weight of 292 g/m² and is smoothed to a height of 0.25inches (6.4 mm). The froth is placed in a Blue M forced air oven atdrying temperature of approximately 75° C. for 25 minutes. The resultingfinal foam height after drying is measured to be about 4.1 mm. Theresulting final foam/fabric structure has a foam weight of 238 g/m² anda foam density of about 0.058 g/cm³.

When tested for horizontal burn performance using ASTM D4986 StandardTest Method for Horizontal Burning Characteristics of Cellular PolymericMaterials, the foam/fabric sample gives a burn length of 10.5 cm after 3minutes elapsed time.

The burn length of the foam of Example 1, foamed from a dispersion-flameretardant mixture, was only 3.5 cm. Comparatively, the burn length ofthe loam of Comparative Example 1, formed from a dispersion similar tothat used in Example 1 without a flame retardant mixture, was 10.5 cm.

Example 2

A blend of 75.47 grams of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of48.7% water, 49.05% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38percent (ENGAGE® 8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow ChemicalCompany), 1.02% UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-PetroliteCorp., Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n hasan average value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acidavailable from Chemtura Corporation), 0.17% METHOCEL® E4MP (methylcellulose derivative commercially available from The Dow ChemicalCompany, Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocidecommercially available from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.) ismixed with 14.53 grams of water, and 40.00 grams of MELAPUR® MC XL(melamine cyanurate available from Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation)in a plastic container. The mixture is shaken and homogenized using ahousehold high shear hand held mixer (Hamilton Beach TURBO-TWISTER™).The mixture is placed in a conventional mixing bowl under a Hobart-typestand mixer fitted with a wire beater. The blend is mixed on high speedfor 3 minutes thereby entraining air and producing a froth.

The froth is spread onto the back of a 69.5% cotton/30.5% polyestermattress ticking having a fabric weight of 217 g/m² and is smoothed to aheight of 0.25 inches (6.4 mm). A polypropylene non-woven fabric havinga weight of 18.3 g/m² is laid on top of the smoothed froth. The froth isplaced in a Blue M forced air oven at a drying temperature ofapproximately 75° C. for 60 minutes. The resulting final foam heightafter drying is measured to be about 5.93 mm. The resulting finalfoam/fabric structure has a foam weight of 559 g/m² and a foam densityof about 0.094 g/cm³. The resulting final foam has a composition of50.6% MELAPUR® MC XL and 49.4% dispersion solids.

When tested for horizontal burn performance using ASTM D4986 StandardTest Method for Horizontal Burning Characteristics of Cellular PolymericMaterials, the foam/fabric sample gives a burn length of 4.2 cm after 3minutes elapsed time and is self extinguishing.

Example 3

A blend of 79.28 grams of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of48.7% water, 49.05% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38percent (ENGAGE® 8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow ChemicalCompany), 1.02% UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-PetroliteCorp., Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n hasan average value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acidavailable from Chemtura Corporation), 0.17% METHOCEL® E4MP (methylcellulose derivative commercially available from The Dow ChemicalCompany, Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocidecommercially available from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.) ismixed with 31.54 grams of water, and 75.89 grams of MELAPUR® MC XL(melamine cyanurate available from Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation)in a plastic container. The mixture is shaken and homogenized using ahousehold high Shear hand held mixer (Hamilton Beach TURBO-TWISTER™).The mixture is placed in a conventional mixing howl under a Hobart-typestand mixer fitted with a wire beater. The blend is mixed on high speedfor 3 minutes thereby entraining air and producing a froth.

The froth is spread onto the back of a 100% polyester mattress tickinghaving a fabric weight of 100 g/m² and is smoothed to a height of 0.25inches (6.4 mm). A polypropylene non-woven fabric having a weight of18.3 g/m² is laid on top of the smoothed froth. The froth is placed in aBlue M forced air oven at drying temperature of approximately 75° C. for50 minutes. The resulting final foam height after drying is measured tobe about 5.32 mm. The resulting final foam/fabric structure has a foamweight of 1026 g/m² and a foam density of about 0.193 g/cm³. Theresulting final foam has a composition of 65.1% MELAPUR® MC XL and 34.9%dispersion solids.

Example 4

A blend of 116.45 grams of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of49% water, 48.75% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38percent (ENGAGE® 8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow ChemicalCompany), 1.02% UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-PetroliteCorp., Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n hasan average value of about 23), 0.51% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearie acidavailable from Chemtura Corporation), 0.51% STEPHANOL WAT-K (Tea LaurylSulfate, commercially available from Stepan Chemical Company,Northfield, Ill.), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulose derivativecommercially available from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.),and 0.026% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commercially available from The DowChemical Company, Midland, Mich.) is mixed with 13.9 grams of water, and33.25 grams of MAGNIFIN® H-5MV (magnesium hydroxide available fromAlbemarle Corporation) in a plastic container. The mixture is shaken andhomogenized using a household high shear hand held mixer (Hamilton BeachTURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture is placed in a conventional mixing bowlunder a Hobart-type stand mixer fitted with a wire beater. The blend ismixed on high speed for 3 minutes thereby entraining air and producing afroth.

The froth is spread onto the back of a 100% olefin upholstery fabrichaving a fabric weight of 292 g/m² and is smoothed to a height of 0.25inches (6.4 mm). The froth is placed in a Blue M forced air oven atdrying temperature of approximately 75° C. for 25 minutes. The resultingfinal foam height after drying is measured to be about 3.5 mm. Theresulting final foam/fabric structure has a foam weight of 813 g/m² anda foam density of about 0.232 g/cm³. The resulting final foam has acomposition of 35.8% MAGNIFIN® H-5MV and 64.2% dispersion solids.

When tested for horizontal burn performance using ASTM D4986 StandardTest Method for Horizontal Burning Characteristics of Cellular PolymericMaterials, the foam/fabric sample gives a burn length 014.0 cm after 3minutes elapsed time.

Example 5

A blend of 179.89 grams of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of49% water, 48.75% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38percent (ENGAGE® 8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow ChemicalCompany), 1.02% UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-PetroliteCorp., Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n hasan average value of about 23), 0.5.1% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acidavailable from Chemtura Corporation), 0.51% STEPHANOL WAT-K (Tea LaurylSulfate, commercially available from Stepan Chemical Company,Northfield, Ill.), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulose derivativecommercially available from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.),and 0.026% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commercially available from The DowChemical Company, Midland, Mich.) is mixed with 37.0 grams of water, and24.27 grams of EXOLIT® AP-760 (a non-halogenated flame retardant basedon ammonium polyphosphate and nitrogen available from ClariantCorporation) in a plastic container. The mixture is shaken andhomogenized using a household high shear hand held mixer (Hamilton BeachTURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture is placed in a conventional mixing bowlunder a Hobart-type stand mixer titled with a wire beater. The blend ismixed on high speed for 3 minutes thereby entraining air and producing afroth.

The froth is spread onto the back of a 69.5% cotton/30.5% polyestermattress ticking having a fabric weight of 217 g/m² and is smoothed to aheight of 0.25 inches (6.4 mm). The froth is placed in a Blue M forcedair oven at drying temperature of approximately 75° C. for 25 minutes.The resulting final foam height after drying is measured to beapproximately 4.47 mm. The resulting final foam/fabric structure has afoam weight of 1253 g/m² and a foam density of about 0.280 g/cm³. Theresulting final foam had a composition of 20.9% EXOLIT® AP-760 and 79.1%dispersion solids.

When tested for horizontal burn performance using ASTM D4986 StandardTest Method for Horizontal Burning Characteristics of Cellular PolymericMaterials, the foam/fabric sample gives a burn length of 3.0 cm after 3minutes elapsed time and is almost self extinguishing.

Examples 6, 7, 8

A blend of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of 48.7% water,49.06% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38 percent (ENGAGE®8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow Chemical Company), 1.02%UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-Petrolite Corp.,Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n has anaverage value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acid availablefrom Chemtura Corporation), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulosederivative commercially available from The Dow Chemical Company,Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commerciallyavailable from The Dow Chemical. Company, Midland, Mich.) is mixed withwater, and MELAPUR® MC XL (melamine cyanurate available from CibaSpecialty Chemicals Corporation) in a plastic container in amounts asgiven in Table 1. The mixture is shaken and homogenized using ahousehold high shear hand held mixer (Hamilton Beach TURBO-TWISTER™).The mixture is placed in a conventional mixing bowl under a Hobart-typestand mixer fitted with a wire beater. The blend is mixed on high speedfir 3 minutes thereby entraining air and producing a froth.

The froth is spread onto the back of a 100% polyester mattress tickinghaving a fabric weight of 100 g/m² and is smoothed to a height of 0.25inches (6.4 mm). A polypropylene non-woven fabric having a weight of18.3 g/m² is laid on top of the smoothed froth. The froth is placed in aBlue M forced air oven at drying temperature of approximately 75° C. for50 minutes. The resulting final foam height after drying, finalfoam/fabric structure foam weight, and foam density are given inTable 1. The resulting final foams has a composition of approximately60% MELAPUR® MC XL and 40% dispersion solids. As can be readilyobserved, the amount of water in the mixture has a dramatic impact onthe density of the final foam.

TABLE 1 Sample Ex. 6 Ex. 7 Ex. 8 MELAPUR ® MC XL 67.68 g 67.73 g 67.63 gAqueous Dispersion 87.78 g 88.00 g 89.13 g Water 17.68 g 27.10 g 36.61 gFinal Foam Height  5.07 mm  5.32 mm  5.57 mm Final Foam Weight  1341g/m²   934 g/m²   706 g/m² Final Foam Density 0.264 g/cm³ 0.176 g/cm³0.127 g/cm³ MELAPUR ® MC XL 60.0% 60.0% 59.7% Content

Example 9, 10, 11, 12

A blend of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of 48.7% water,49.06% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38 percent (ENGAGE®8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow Chemical Company), 1.02%UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-Petrolite Corp.,Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n has anaverage value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acid availablefrom Chemtura Corporation), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulosederivative commercially available from The Dow Chemical Company,Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commerciallyavailable from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.) is mixed withwater, MARTINAL® OL-107C aluminum hydroxide, and MELAPUR® MC XL melaminecyanurate in a plastic container in amounts as given in Table 2. Themixture is shaken and homogenized using a household high shear hand heldmixer (Hamilton Beach TURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture is placed in aconventional mixing bowl under a Hobart-type stand mixer fitted with awire beater. The blend is mixed on high speed for 3 minutes therebyentraining air and producing a froth.

The froth is spread onto the back of a 100% polyester mattress tickinghaving a fabric weight of 100 g/m² and is smoothed to a height of 70.25inches (6.4 mm). A polypropylene non-woven fabric having a weight of18.3 g/m² is laid on top of the smoothed froth. The froth is placed in aBlue M forced air oven at drying temperature of approximately 75 deg C.for 50 minutes. The resulting final foam height after drying, finalfoam/fabric structure foam weight, and foam density are given in Table2.

TABLE 2 Sample Ex. 9 Ex. 10 Ex. 11 Ex. 12 MARTINAL ® OL-107C 59.85 g68.40 g n/a n/a MELAPUR ®MC XL n/a n/a 67.68 g 67.63 g AqueousDispersion 95.00 g 91.07 g 87.78 g 89.13 g Water 30.60 g 19.20 g 17.68 g36.61 g Final Foam Height  5.51 mm  5.16 mm  5.07 mm  5.02 mm Final FoamWeight   692 g/m²  1303 g/m²  1341 g/m²   670 g/m² Final Foam Density0.126 g/cm³ 0.253 g/cm³ 0.264 g/cm³ 0.134 g/cm³ FR Content 55.1% 59.4%60.0% 59.7%

Example 13

A blend of 91.32 grams of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of48.7% water, 49.06% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38percent (ENGAGE® 8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow ChemicalCompany), 1.02% UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-PetroliteCorp., Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n hasan average value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acidavailable from Chemtura Corporation), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methylcellulose derivative commercially available from The Dow ChemicalCompany, Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocidecommercially available from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.) ismixed with 25.84 grams of water, and 68.65 grains of MARTINAL® OL-107C(aluminum hydroxide available from Albemarle Corporation) in a plasticcontainer. The mixture is shaken and homogenized using a household highshear hand held mixer (Hamilton Beach TURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture isplaced in a conventional mixing howl under a Hobart-type stand mixerfitted with a wire beater. The blend is mixed on high speed for 3minutes thereby entraining air and producing a froth.

The froth is spread onto the back of a 100% polyester mattress tickinghaving a fabric weight of 100 g/m² and is smoothed to a height of 0.125inches (3.2 mm). A non-woven glass mat (416 g/m² weight, 0.054 cmthickness, available from Owens Corning Corporation) is laid on top ofthe smoothed froth. An additional layer of froth is spread onto the backof the glass mat and is smoothed to a height of 0.125 inches (3.2 mm). Apolypropylene non-woven fabric having a weight of 18.3 g/m² is laid ontop of this second layer of smoothed froth. The froth is placed in aBlue M forced air oven at drying temperature of approximately 75° C. for50 minutes. The resulting final total foam height after drying ismeasured to be 5.57 mm. The resulting final foam/glass mat/fabricstructure has a foam weight of 1237 g/m² and a foam density of 0.222g/cm³. The resulting final foam has a composition of 59.4% MARTINAL®OL-107C and 40.6% dispersion solids.

Flame Resistance Testing

The foam laminates of examples 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 are tested forflame and thermal resistance according to the direct under burn test.The direct under burn test gives an indication of a materials ability toresist a direct fire and insulate from the heat of the fire. WhereasASTM D4986 Standard Test Method for Horizontal Burning Characteristicsof Cellular Polymeric Materials provides an indication of a materialsability to resist the propagation of a direct flame, the direct underburn test provides an indication of the materials ability to mitigatethe heat propagation from a direct flame. The sample is supported on awidely spaced (1 inch by 1 inch) metal grid approximately 1 cm above thetop of a burner fan such that the flame is in direct contact with thesample. A thermocouple capable of withstanding the test temperature isfixed in direct contact with the back (non-flame) side of the sample. Apiece of urethane loath, approximately ½″ thick is then placed on top ofthe sample and the thermocouple to provide insulation for a moreaccurate measurement of back Sample temperature. Another widely spacedgrid is then placed on the urethane foam to hold the sample flat duringthe test. A flame source, similar to that used in ASTM D4986, is thenplaced under the sample for a period of 120 seconds. The back surfacetemperature, as measured by the thermocouple, is then recorded versustime. Materials that are good at resisting flame, such as glassnon-wovens, but not good at insulating will have a rapid temperaturerise in this test. Materials that are good at insulating, but not goodat resisting flame, such as urethane foam will have a rapid temperaturerise in this test as they combust. The back surface temperature versustime data is given in Table 3.

TABLE 3 Elapsed Time Temperature (° F.) (seconds) Ex. 9 Ex. 10 Ex. 11Ex. 12 Ex. 13 0 75 75 74 82 76 5 96 87 84 110 75 10 142 111 105 148 7815 242 134 130 272 93 20 338 156 150 107 25 522 183 169 136 30 226 196147 35 260 223 149 40 287 258 152 45 184 50 218 55 263 60 302 75 400 80436 90 455

Examples 14, 15, 16

A blend of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of 48.7% water,49.06% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38 percent (ENGAGE®8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow Chemical Company), 1.02%UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-Petrolite Corp.,Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n has anaverage value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acid availablefrom Chemtura Corporation), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulosederivative commercially available from The Dow Chemical Company,Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commerciallyavailable from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.) is mixed withwater and MARTINAL® OL-107C aluminum hydroxide or MELAPUR® MC XLmelamine cyanurate in a plastic container. The wet weight percent ofaqueous dispersion, flame retardant, and water is 48.7%, 37.5%, and13.8% respectively to give a 60 wt. % flame retardant foam on a drybasis. The mixture is shaken and homogenized using a household highshear hand held mixer (Hamilton Beach TURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture isplaced in a conventional mixing howl under a Hobart-type stand mixerfitted with a wire beater. The blend is mixed on high speed for 3minutes thereby entraining air and producing a froth.

The MARTINAL® OL-107C froth is spread onto the back of a polypropylenenon-woven fabric having a fabric weight of 18.3 g/m² and is smoothed toa height of 0.125 inches (3.2 mm). A non-woven glass mat (weight andproduct as given in Table 4, available from Owens Corning Corporation)was laid on top of the smoothed froth. A layer of MELAPUR® MC XL frothis spread onto the back of the glass mat and is smoothed to a height of0.125 inches (3.2 mm). A 100% polyester mattress ticking having a fabricweight of 100 g/m² is laid on top of this second layer of smoothedfroth. The froth is placed in a Blue M forced air oven at dryingtemperature of approximately 75° C. for 70 minutes. The resulting finaltotal laminate height after drying and final foam weight are given Table4.

TABLE 4 Sample Ex. 14 Ex. 15 Ex. 16 Glass Mat Weight  25 g/m²  50 g/m² 300 g/m² Owens Corning Product ECR25A ECR50A VL8101 Total LaminateHeight  6.51 mm  6.62 mm 6.71 mm Final Foam Weight 1221 g/m² 1280 g/m² 950 g/m²

Flame Resistance Testing

The foam laminates of examples 14, 15 and 16 were tested for flame andthermal resistance according to the direct under burn test. The backsurface temperature versus time data is given in Table 5.

TABLE 5 Elapsed Time Temperature (° F.) (seconds) Ex. 14 Ex. 15 Ex. 16 082 83 81 10 91 89 85 15 106 96 94 20 141 112 106 25 231 133 119 30 345178 134 35 420 246 145 40 474 338 167 45 508 391 198 50 453 243 55 515274 60 572 301 65 596 332 70 607 370 75 623 403 80 639 448 85 654 463 90672 478 95 686 510 100 700 526 110 710 555 120 571 130 592 140 614 150633 160 659

Example 17, 18

A blend of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of 48.8% water,48.95% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38 percent (ENGAGE®8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow Chemical Company), 1.02%UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-Petrolite Corp.,Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n has anaverage value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearie acid availablefrom Chemtura Corporation), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulosederivative commercially available from The Dow Chemical Company,Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commerciallyavailable from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.) is mixed withwater and MARTINAL® OL-104C aluminum hydroxide in a plastic container inan amount as given in the table below. The mixture is shaken andhomogenized using a household high shear hand held mixer (Hamilton BeachTURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture is placed in a conventional mixing bowlunder a Hobart-type stand mixer fitted with a wire beater. The blend ismixed on high speed for 3 minutes thereby entraining air and producing afroth.

The MARTINAL® OL-104C froth is spread onto the back of a polypropylenenon-woven fabric having a fabric weight of 18.3 g/m² and is smoothed toa height of 0.250 inches (6.4 mm). A non-woven glass mat (Owens CorningCorporation, 70 g/m², 0.72 mm thickness) is laid on top of the smoothedfroth. The froth is placed in a Blue M forced air oven at dryingtemperature of approximately 75° C. for 70 minutes. The resulting finaltotal laminate height after drying and final foam weight are given inTable 6.

TABLE 6 Sample Ex. 17 Ex. 18 MARTINAL ® OL-104C  88.17 grams 115.17grams Aqueous Dispersion 210.15 grams 150.05 grams Water  16.20 grams 33.42 grams MARTINAL ® OL-104C 45% 60% Total Laminate Height  6.88 mm 7.12 mm Final Foam Weight   564 g/m²   921 g/m²

Example 19, 20, 21

A blend of 420.29 grams of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of48.8% water, 48.95% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38percent (ENGAGE® 8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow ChemicalCompany), 1.02% UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-PetroliteCorp., Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n hasan average value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearie acidavailable from Chemtura Corporation), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methylcellulose derivative commercially available from The Dow ChemicalCompany, Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocidecommercially available from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.) ismixed with 32.57 grams of water and 176.33 grams of MARTINAL® OL-104Caluminum hydroxide in a plastic container to give a foam with a finaldry level of MARTINAL® OL-104C of 45%. The mixture is shaken andhomogenized using a household high shear hand held mixer (Hamilton BeachTURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture is placed in a conventional mixing bowlunder a Hobart-type stand mixer fitted with a wire beater. The blend ismixed on high speed for 3 minutes thereby entraining air and producing afroth.

The MARTINAL® OL-104C froth is spread onto the back of a non-woven glassmat (Owens Corning Corporation, 70 g/m², 0.72 mm thickness) and issmoothed to a height of 0.250 inches (6.4 mm). The froth is placed in aBlue M forced air oven at drying temperature of approximately 75° C. for70 minutes. The final weight of the MARTINAL® OL-104C foam is given inTable 7.

A blend of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of 48.8% water,48.95% copolymer or ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38 percent (ENGAGE®8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow Chemical Company), 1.02%UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained, from Baker-Petrolite Corp.,Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n has anaverage value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acid availablefrom Chemtura Corporation), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulosederivative commercially available from The Dow Chemical Company,Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commerciallyavailable from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.) is mixed withwater and MELAPUR® MC XL melamine cyanurate in a plastic container inthe amounts given in the table below. The mixture is shaken andhomogenized using a household high shear hand held mixer (Hamilton BeachTURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture is placed in a conventional mixing bowlunder a Hobart-type stand mixer fitted with a wire beater. The blend ismixed on high speed for 3 minutes thereby entraining air and producing afroth.

The MELAPUR® MC XL froth is spread onto the other side of the non-wovenglass mat and is smoothed to a height as given in the table below. Thefroth is again placed in a Blue M forced air oven at drying temperatureof approximately 75° C. for 70 minutes. The resulting final totallaminate height after drying and final foam weight are given in Table 7.

TABLE 7 Sample Ex. 19 Ex. 20 Ex. 21 MELAPUR ® MC XL  48.7 grams  25.3grams  25.3 grams Aqueous Dispersion 95.08 grams 115.58 grams 115.58grams Water  9.34 grams  0.00 grams  0.00 grams MELAPUR ® MC XL 50%29.9% 29.9% Wet Foam Smoothed Height  4.76 mm  4.76 mm  3.18 mm TotalLaminate Height  9.28 mm  9.69 mm  8.51 mm Final MARTINAL ® OL-104C FoamWeight   513 g/m²   522 g/m²   528 g/m² Final MELAPUR ® MC XL FoamWeight   704 g/m²   316 g/m²   213 g/m²

Flame Resistance Testing

The foam laminates of examples 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21 are tested forflame and thermal resistance according to the direct under burn test.The back surface temperature versus time data is given in Table 8.

TABLE 8 Elapsed Time Temperature (° F.) (seconds) Ex. 17 Ex. 18 Ex. 19Ex. 20 Ex. 21 0 70 83 81 81 82 10 90 89 83 83 85 15 125 103 85 88 96 20160 121 91 98 110 25 314 148 102 115 138 30 462 216 116 133 233 35 543301 133 149 399 40 576 405 172 210 504 45 599 550 253 380 580 50 620 613371 498 613 55 642 641 473 554 633 60 659 659 530 586 647 65 676 684 570604 658 70 704 706 596 626 669 75 729 730 609 640 685 80 751 747 623 651703 85 766 771 636 665 714 90 772 781 645 659 713 95 776 788 655 657 718100 779 794 661 648 732 105 781 800 669 655 741 110 781 808 676 645 733115 782 812 682 649 734 120 783 819 693 648 731

Example 22, 23, 24

A blend of an aqueous dispersion having a composition of 48.8% water,48.95% copolymer of ethylene/1-octene content of 62/38 percent (ENGAGE®8200 elastomer which is supplied by The Dow Chemical Company), 1.02%UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained from Baker-Petrolite Corp.,Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formula CH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n has anaverage value of about 23), 1.02% HYSTRENE® 4516 (stearic acid availablefrom Chemtura Corporation), 0.18% METHOCEL® E4MP, (methyl cellulosederivative commercially available from The Dow Chemical Company,Midland, Mich.), and 0.028% DOWICIL® 200 (a biocide commerciallyavailable from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.) is mixed withwater and MICRONAL® DS5001 (phase change micro-capsules available fromBASF) in a plastic container according to the weights given in the tablebelow. The mixture is shaken and homogenized using a household highshear hand held mixer (Hamilton Beach TURBO-TWISTER™). The mixture isplaced in a conventional mixing bowl under a Hobart-type stand mixerfitted with a wire beater. The blend is mixed on high speed for 3minutes thereby entraining air and producing a froth.

The froth is spread, onto the back of a 58% polyester/42% acrylicupholstery fabric having a fabric weight of 256 g/m² and is smoothed toa height of 0.25 inches (6.4 mm). The froth is placed in a Blue M forcedair oven at drying temperature of approximately 75° C. for 60 minutes.The resulting foam height, foam weight, and foam density are given inTable 9.

TABLE 9 Sample Ex. 22 Ex. 23 Ex. 24 MICRONAL ® DS5001  14.07 grams 37.51 grams    0 grams Aqueous Dispersion 110.05 grams 110.15 grams  100 grams Water  0.00 grams  7.75 grams    0 grams MICRONAL ® DS500120% 39.9% 0% Dry Foam Height  5.77 mm  5.96 mm  4.82 mm Dry Foam Weight  436 g/m²   862 g/m²   203 g/m² Dry Foam Density  0.076 g/cm³  0.145g/cm³ 0.042 g/cm³

The foams from examples 22, 23, and 24 are placed in a forced air ovenwhich has been preheated to 70° C. Thermocouple probes are insertedbetween the upholstery fabric and the foam. The forced air oven is shutoff. The temperature versus time behavior of the foam/upholsterystructures is given in FIG. 2.

Example 25

35.0 g of aluminum hydroxide powder was added to 108.7 g of an aqueousolefin dispersion comprising 49% water, 46.6% ENGAGE® 8200 (anethylene-octane copolymer commercially available from The Dow ChemicalCompany, Midland, Mich.), 2% UNICID® 350 (a mono-acid obtained fromBaker-Petrolite Corp., Cincinnati, Ohio, of the formulaCH₃(CH₂)_(n)COOH, wherein n has an average value of about 23), 1%stearic acid, 1% STEPANOL® WAT-K. (Tea Lauryl Sulfate, commerciallyavailable from Stepan Chemical Company, Northfield, Ill.), 0.35%METHOCEL® E4MP (methyl cellulose derivative commercially available fromThe Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich.), and 0.05% DOWICIL® 200 (abiocide commercially available from The Dow Chemical Company, Midland,Mich.). The mixture was vigorously shaken to disperse the aluminumhydroxide powder into the liquid, and then was diluted with 24.9 g ofwater. The mixture was then mixed at high speed for 3-5 minutes until afroth is generated. This froth is applied to the back of a textilefabric using ¼ inch stand-offs and a screed. The froth-laden fabric isthen placed into an air convection Oven at 75° C. for 25 minutes todrive off water and form the olefin foam.

The foam fabric structure generated by the procedure described above hasa foam weight of 613 g/m² and a foam density of 0.165 g/cm³. When testedfor flammability according to ASTM D4986 Standard Test. Method forHorizontal Burning Characteristics of Cellular Polymeric Materials thefoam fabric structure provided a hum propagation rate of 3.5 cm in 3minutes compared to over 11 can in 3 minutes for a control material withno flame retardant in the foam/fabric structure.

While references to the use of the disclosed foams in flame retardantfabric articles may have been made, no limitation on the presentinvention was intended by such description. Rather the foams disclosedherein may specifically find use absorbent articles, sound deadeningmaterials, thermal insulating materials, packaging materials, or otherapplications where foams may be useful.

Advantages of embodiments disclosed herein may include one or more ofthe following. Access to foams with high loading of flame retardantadditives may be possible because of the open cell structure produced inthe frothing process. The open cell structure may exhibit desirableproperties for the resultant foam including elasticity and soft feel forfabric applications. Further, the open cell structure may be generatedthrough frothing, obviating the need to include a mechanical opening ofa closed cell foam. Finally, the foams may be generated under ambienttemperature conditions and without the need of any blowing agents.

While the invention has been described with respect to a limited numberof embodiments, those skilled in the art will appreciate that otherembodiments can be devised which do not depart from the scope of theinvention as disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the inventionshould be limited only by the attached claims.

1-80. (canceled)
 81. An open-cell flame retardant foam derived from astabilized aqueous dispersion comprising: a) a thermoplastic resin; b)at least one dispersion-stabilizing agent; c) at least one flameretardant; and d) water, wherein the thermoplastic resin comprises anethylene homopolymer, an ethylene/α-olefin copolymer, or anethylene/α-olefin multiblock interpolymer; a propylene homopolymer,propylene/α-olefin copolymer, or a propylene/α-olefin multiblockinterpolymer; or combinations thereof.
 82. An open-cell flame retardantfoam derived from an aqueous froth comprising: a) a thermoplastic resincomprising an ethylene homopolymer, an ethylene/α-olefin copolymer, oran ethylene/α-olefin multiblock interpolymer; a polypropylenehomopolymer, a propylene/α-olefin copolymer, or a propylene/α-olefinmultiblock interpolymer; or combinations thereof; b) water; c) afrothing surfactant comprising at least one of alkylcellulose ethers,hydroxyalkyl cellulose ethers, hydroxyalkyl alkylcellulose ethers, guargum, xanthan gum, and polyoxyethylene resins of at least 20,000molecular weight; d) a gas; e) at least one flame retardant comprisingat least one selected from an inorganic salt, an intumescent, ahalogenated compound, a phosphate compound, a borate compound, amelamine compound, and combinations thereof; and f) adispersion-stabilizing agent; wherein the froth comprises from about 15to 75 weight percent component (a), from about 25 to 75 weight percentcomponent (b), from about 0.1 to 10 percent component (c), from about 5to 50 weight percent component (e), and wherein (d) is present in anamount such that (d) comprises at least 10 percent of the total volumeof all components present in the froth; and wherein the at least oneflame retardant comprises from about 5 to about 70% of a total weight ofthe thermoplastic resin, the at least one stabilizing agent and the atleast one flame retardant.
 83. The foam of claim 82, wherein the cellsize of the majority of cells of the foam ranges between about 5 andabout 1000 microns.
 84. The foam of claim 82, wherein the foam has ahorizontal burn length of 80% or lower than a non-flame retardantcontrol sample according to ASTM D4986 Standard Test Method forHorizontal Burning Characteristics of Cellular Polymeric Materials. 85.The foam of claim 82, wherein the density of the foam on a dry basis isbetween about 0.02 g/cm3 and about 0.30 g/cm3. 86.-123. (canceled) 124.A laminate comprising: (A) at least one layer of a froth comprising: a)a thermoplastic resin comprising an ethylene homopolymer, anethylene/α-olefin copolymer, or an ethylene/α-olefin multiblockinterpolymer; a polypropylene homopolymer, a propylene/α-olefincopolymer, or a propylene/α-olefin multiblock interpolymer; orcombinations thereof; b) water; c) a frothing surfactant comprising atleast one of alkylcellulose ethers, hydroxyalkyl cellulose ethers,hydroxyalkyl alkylcellulose ethers, guar gum, xanthan gum, andpolyoxyethylene resins of at least 20,000 molecular weight; d) a gas; e)at least one flame retardant comprising at least one selected from aninorganic salt, an intumescent, a halogenated compound, a phosphatecompound, a borate compound, a melamine compound, and combinationsthereof; and f) a dispersion-stabilizing agent; wherein the frothcomprises from about 15 to 75 weight percent component (a), from about25 to 75 weight percent component (b), from about 0.1 to 10 percentcomponent (c), from about 5 to 50 weight percent component (e), andwherein (d) is present in an amount such that (d) comprises at least 10percent of the total volume of all components present in the froth; andwherein the at least one flame retardant comprises from about 5 to about70% of a total weight of the thermoplastic resin, the at least onestabilizing agent and the at least one flame retardant, and (B) at leastone substrate layer on which the froth layer (A) is disposed.
 125. Thelaminate of claim 124, wherein the at least one substrate layer isprepared from a layer of a froth, a layer of foam, a thermoplastic sheetor film, a woven or nonwoven fabric, fiberglass, or a melt spun-bondedor melt blown material.
 126. A laminated structure comprising (a) atleast one layer of the foam of claim 82, and (b) at least one substratelayer to which the foam layer (a) is adhered.
 127. The laminatedstructure of claim 126, wherein the at least one substrate layer isselected from a layer of a foam, a thermoplastic sheet or film, a wovenor non-woven fabric, fiberglass, or melt spun bonded or melt blownmaterial.
 128. The laminated structure of claim 126, wherein the foamlayer has a density different from that of the substrate.
 129. Thelaminated structure of claim 126, wherein the foam layer comprises atleast a first and a second layer of the foam of claim 82, and whereinthe first layer has a density different from that of the second layer.130. A flame retardant article comprising the laminated structure ofclaim
 126. 131. A foam comprising: (a) a thermoplastic resin; and (b) atleast one flame retardant; wherein the at least one flame retardantcomprises from about 5 to about 70 percent of a total weight of thethermoplastic resin and the at least one flame retardant.
 132. A foamderived from a stabilized aqueous dispersion comprising: (a) athermoplastic resin; (b) at least one dispersion-stabilizing agent; (c)at least one phase change material; and (d) water.
 133. A foam derivedfrom an aqueous froth comprising: a) a thermoplastic resin; b) water; c)a frothing surfactant; d) a gas; e) a dispersion-stabilizing agent; andf) at least one phase change material.
 134. A method for generating athermoplastic foam from a stabilized aqueous dispersion, the stabilizedaqueous dispersion comprising a thermoplastic resin, water, and adispersion-stabilizing agent, the method comprising: adding at least onefrothing surfactant to the stabilized aqueous dispersion to form amixture; adding a phase change material; frothing the mixture to createa froth; and removing at least a portion of the water to produce thefoam; wherein the foam created comprises about 20 weight percent or lessresidual water.
 135. A foam comprising: (a) a thermoplastic resin; (b) adispersion-stabilizing agent; and (c) at least one phase changematerial; wherein the at least one phase change material comprises fromabout 5 to about 70 percent of a total weight of the thermoplastic resinand the at least one phase change material.
 136. The foam of claim 135,wherein the phase change material comprises at least one selected from amicroencapsulated wax, fatty acid or ester, paraffin, salt hydrides, andcombinations thereof.